The American Medical Association (AMA) has announced that it is launching its own “evidence-based review process” for the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
The AMA is the largest and most influential professional organization in the U.S., representing more than 270,000 physicians, residents, and medical students since 1847. The AMA is a completely independent, private, non-governmental organization.
This move by the organization is perceived as an indirect criticism of the regulations implemented by the federal government. The AMA will carry out the project in collaboration with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) and will focus primarily on immunizations against influenza, COVID-19, and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus).
The AMA’s decision is a response of sorts to the radical changes within the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last year, Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all members of the committee and replaced them with individuals, some of whom are known for their vaccine skepticism.
The new CDC panel has already voted to suspend or postpone recommendations for several critical childhood vaccines (such as MMR and Hepatitis B), prompting the AMA to state that the old system has collapsed.
The AMA is not the only organization to distance itself from the federal government. Last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published its own immunization schedule, which includes vaccines that the CDC had removed from its list. Experts assess that the medical community is attempting to fill the “vacuum” created by the government’s abandonment of scientific analysis.
Nevertheless, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) denies these allegations, stating that the CDC committee remains the country’s primary advisory body and that efforts by outside organizations only “confuse the public” and cannot replace federal decisions.
