TAKE ACTION NOW – Submit your comments at the National Vaccine Advisory Committee Meeting on March 16th!
The National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) is holding their next stakeholder meeting this coming Monday, March 16th and is seeking public input into the scientific research agenda (HERE) being developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Immunization Safety Office (ISO). The meeting will address the CDC’s draft research agenda and broader issues regarding the national vaccine safety program.
Members of the autism community were represented in a writing group meeting last month in Salt Lake City to identify gaps in research and prioritization criteria. The group has published a draft joint statement (HERE), draft documents on Gaps in the Research Agenda (HERE) and Criteria for Assessing ISO Research (HERE) addressing questions around vaccination of special populations, specific diseases which might be caused by vaccines, and the health effects of vaccination practices. They also acknowledged the public’s strong desire to study total health outcomes as they relate to the full vaccination schedule, recommending that an independent expert panel be convened to review the feasibility of researching vaccinated vs. unvaccinated populations.
The importance of our community’s participation in this Monday’s stakeholder meeting cannot be overstated. Despite the progress made by the Salt Lake City Writing Group, many parties with vested interests in promoting and expanding the current vaccination program are firmly entrenched in the process. Without the input of our community, they will demolish any progress towards more rigorous and transparent vaccine safety assessments. We must continue pushing for reform at all opportunities.
Your support is needed to insure that vaccines are as safe as possible. Please see the following recommended talking points for submitting comments via email or telephone during the audio conference:
• The CDC’s vested interests in vaccine promotion precludes their ability to conduct unbiased vaccine safety research. This research must be overseen by an independent agency and conducted by unbiased researchers. Parent stakeholder involvement in all aspects of research is paramount in this process.
• The CDC’s ISO lacks the budget and infrastructure to conduct adequate safety research and relies on the flawed and deficient VAERS and VSD databases to detect adverse effects. The funding of safety research must be increased and based on sound datasets capturing all potential adverse events.
• In the interest of transparency, the unrestricted use of CDC’s VAERS and VSD datasets must be made available to outside, independent scientists immediately in a manner that preserves patient privacy.
• The ISO studies vaccine safety only after a vaccine has been licensed, relegating safety as secondary to vaccine promotion. Vaccine safety policy should ensure that comprehensive research is transparent to the public and conducted to examine the effects of the total vaccination schedule, not just individual vaccines, before licensure.
• NVPO must ensure that a comprehensive program of vaccine safety research is initiated through the establishment of the expert panel recommended by the Writing Group, which shall be charged with recommending an array of research on health outcomes in vaccinated versus unvaccinated populations.
• The treatment of our children as guinea pigs in the ever expanding and untested vaccine schedule is unethical. Billions of dollars are spent to license, promote and pay for vaccinations, while the CDC shamefully spends only about $20 million annually for safety research. At a minimum, vaccine safety should have the same priority as vaccine development and promotion. The U.S. government needs a “Safety First” agenda for vaccines.
• Scientists like Dr. Wakefield, have been persecuted for conducting safety research where findings are viewed as unfavorable by those with vested interests in vaccine uptake. The U.S. government must support scientists currently engaged in much needed safety research; they must not be persecuted for conducting research that closes acknowledged vaccine safety research gaps.
To attend the March 16th meeting by phone or in person, please contact Kirsten Vannice to register. You will receive links to the webcast/audio conference, agenda, and information on submitting written comments. The meeting will be held from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the Department of Health and Human Services; Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Room 800; 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20201. For further information, visit http://www.hhs.gov/nvpo/nvac/stakeholdermeeting03162009.html.
Thank you.
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