The Vaccine Intelligence Report: November 13-19

The Vaccine Intelligence Report—brought to you by Vaccinate Your Family—provides clear, fact-based updates on vaccine policy, research, and public health each week. This report is part of Viral Truths, a resource designed to cut through the noise, offering concise information to help navigate the evolving immunization landscape.

THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE

  • At the December meeting, ACIP—the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel—will revisit their discussion of delaying the hepatitis B vaccine, which is currently recommended for all infants at birth
  • ACIP is also set to discuss vaccine ingredients, likely including aluminum, which is used in many routine vaccines to boost immune response
  • MAHA allies have criticized the administration’s progress on key vaccine-related goals, as the White House further embraces the movement
  • As some federal disease surveillance tracking is updated following the end of the government shutdown, the CDC has connected measles outbreaks across states for the first time
  • A new flu strain causing severe outbreaks in other countries is likely to hit the US next, further emphasizing the importance of seasonal vaccination
  • Share your story on Viral Truths: Have you faced challenges getting a vaccine? We want to hear from you.

NEED TO KNOW

ACIP to Revisit Universal Hepatitis B Vaccination at December Meeting

  • An agenda for the December 4-5 meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was posted on Friday (November 14).
    • This document is unusually sparse, outlining only broad discussion topics, which include the childhood/adolescent immunization schedule, vaccine schedule history and considerations, “adjuvants and contaminants,” and the hepatitis B vaccine. Typically, ACIP agendas outlinespecific presentations and speakers.
    • Notably, the December agenda does not include an update on outbreaks–something the agenda usually covers to provide updates on ongoing infectious disease outbreaks like measles and respiratory season.
  • The December meeting is expected to revisit the panel’s ongoing debate over hepatitis B vaccination, which is currently recommended for all infants within 24 hours of birth.
    • In September, members considered delayingthe current recommendation to one month—or longer. The new agenda suggests the issue will be discussed again and potentially brought to a vote.
  • Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a physician and chair of the Senate health committee, said he is “very concerned” about the prospect of changing the recommended hepatitis B vaccine schedule, stressing the major public health gains achieved through universal birth dose coverage.
    • When the hepatitis B vaccine is given within 24 hours of birth, it is up to 90% effective at preventing perinatal infection—an infection that leads to chronic disease. Since the universal birth dose recommendation was adopted in 1991, infections in children and teens have decreased by 99%.

ACIP Set to Discuss Vaccine Ingredients, Likely Including Aluminum, Despite Lack of Risk

  • The December ACIP agenda also includes a session on “adjuvants and contaminants.” While the scope is not fully detailed, a Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson confirmed the Committee is reviewing the evidence on “all adjuvants and contaminants”—including their role in vaccine effectiveness and “possible harm.”
    • They added that ACIP is also reviewing the timing of the vaccines and “providing vaccines individually,” which President Donald Trump has recently advocated for.
  • Despite decades of safety data, aluminum adjuvants have come under heightened scrutiny from the administration and are likely to be a focus of discussion. Adjuvants boost immune response, allowing vaccines to work effectively with smaller or fewer doses.
    • In September, Trump stated, “We want no aluminum in the vaccine,” a stance that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long supported.
    • In October, ACIP created a new Work Group to review the childhood/adolescent schedule, including ingredient safety. A CDC documentoutlining the group’s scope explicitly raises questions about aluminum.
    • On Monday (November 17), Kennedy suggested that aluminum in childhood vaccines may be associated with food allergies, though he acknowledged there is no scientific evidence for this claim.
  • Many critical vaccines—including those for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, human papillomavirus (HPV), and pneumococcal disease—rely on aluminum adjuvants.
    • Reformulating or replacing these vaccines could take up to a decade and cost more than $1 billion each, leading to major disruptions in vaccine supply.
    • A recent study of more than 1.2 million children found no association between cumulative aluminum exposure from routine vaccination in the first two years of life and increased risk for any of the 50 health conditions examined.
  • ACIP may also revisit claims about DNA “contaminants” in vaccines—allegations frequently raised by vaccine skeptics, despite scientific evidence refuting such concerns.
    • At ACIP’s September meeting, two committee members presented a widely discredited reviewasserting “safety uncertainties” around mRNA Covid vaccines, focusing on unsubstantiated claims of “DNA impurities.”

White House Embraces MAHA, But Allies Criticize Lack of Progress on Vaccine Issues

  • Last week, the Trump administration demonstrated its embrace of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement at an inaugural summit in DC, which featured numerous senior government officials and private sector executives.
    • During a fireside chat with Kennedy, Vice President JD Vance praised MAHA as “a critical part of our success in Washington.”
  • However, some MAHA allies—former HHS appointees Gray Delany and Dr. Steven Hatfill—have recently criticized the lack of progress on the movement’s key goals, which include removing Covid vaccines from the market and stopping mRNA research.
    • In a recent interview, Delany, former director of MAHA Implementation, and Hatfill, a former special advisor on pandemic preparedness, also criticized the White House’s collaboration with pharmaceutical companies on drug pricing deals.
  • The former appointees attributed the lack of progress in part to FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, whose leadership has recently been under scrutiny—Kennedy reportedly considered scaling back Makary’s role and installing a new leader to run the agency day to day.

Polling Results Suggest Vaccination Support Endures, but Questions are Rising

  • New polling continues to show broad consensusamong Americans on the importance of vaccination.
    • Eighty-five percent of respondents said vaccines are important for protecting vulnerable family and community members, including three in four Republicans.
    • Personal doctors and healthcare providers remain the most trusted sources of vaccineinformation, with 60% saying they trust them “a great deal.” By contrast, Kennedy is among the least trusted sources, with 37% saying they do not trust him at all.
  • A separate poll finds that most Americans (63%) are highly confident that childhood vaccines effectively prevent serious illness.
    • Still, concerns about safety persist: only about half of respondents believe childhood vaccines have been adequately tested (53%) or that the recommended schedule is safe (51%), with skepticism disproportionately concentrated among Republicans.
  • Experts warn that declining trust in HHS and ongoing confusion about Covid vaccines may further depress vaccination rates, which are already low—just 23% of adults received a Covid shot and 47% of adults received a flu shot during the 2024–2025 season.

VIRAL TRUTHS: SHARE YOUR STORY

We want to hear from you: have you faced challenges when trying to get a vaccine?

Getting the vaccines you need shouldn’t be complicated – but sometimes it is.
Have you ever had trouble getting a vaccine? Maybe you couldn’t find it, weren’t sure if you needed a prescription, didn’t know if it was recommended for you, or had problems with insurance.

Have a story to tell? Share here.

OUTBREAK OUTLOOK

Some CDC Disease Surveillance Sites Updated Following End of Government Shutdown

  • As of November 14, the CDC reported the following respiratory disease levels:
    • Respiratory illness activity is low or very low in most states; Alabama and New Hampshire are experiencing moderate activity levels.
    • 19 states are experiencing high or very high levels of Covid wastewater activity, while flu and RSV wastewater activity are very low in nearly all states.
    • While levels remain low, Covid and flu activity is growing in 20 and 39 states, respectively.
  • Other resources have yet to be updated, including the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (last published October 2), Covid vaccine coverage estimates (last updated in May), and pertussis (whooping cough) outbreak data (last updated in June).

CDC Connects Measles Outbreaks Across States for First Time as Cases Continue to Climb

  • Health officials confirmed that Texas’ measles outbreak—which took place from January to August and infected 762 people—is connected to the ongoing outbreak along the Utah-Arizona border, which began in August.
    • This is the first time the CDC has linked outbreaks across states. The connection signals a likely loss of the US’s measles elimination status, which will be revoked if the country experiences sustained transmission for more than 12 months.
  • As of November 13, the US had reached 1,723 total measles cases this year. Cases remain elevated in these key areas:
    • As of November 17, the Utah–Arizona outbreak reached 197 cases since August, including the first confirmed case in Salt Lake County.
    • Officials reported five new cases in South Carolina’s outbreak since Friday (November 14), bringing the total to 49 cases.
    • Officials in Missouri reported a possible measles exposure at the Kansas City Airport.

New Flu Strain Spreading in Canada, Japan, and the UK Indicates Severe Flu Season; First Human Case of H5N5 Avian Flu Detected

  • Officials are warning that a new flu strain causing an early wave of severe outbreaks in Canada, Japan, and the UK is likely to hit the US next.
    • The strain is a version of H3N2 (an A strain of influenza). It mutated seven times over the summer, increasing its severity.
    • Current cases in the UK are triple what they were in November of last year, while cases in Japan are six times higher.
  • The makeup of this year’s flu vaccine was determined in March—before the new strain began to surge.
    • The current vaccine protects against two types of influenza A and one type of influenza B, but is not an exact match to the strain spreading now.
    • Preliminary findings from the UK suggest that this year’s vaccine is still up to 40% effective in preventing adult hospitalization due to flu infection.
    • Experts underscore that it’s still important to receive a flu vaccine. Even flu vaccines that are not an exact match continue to prevent hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions, and deaths.
  • Washington state reported the first human case of avian flu in the US since February, which is also the first reported human case of the H5N5 strain.
    • The individual likely contracted the virus from a backyard flock of domestic poultry at their home, which had exposure to wild birds.
    • The current public health risk is low. Transmission from birds to humans is rare, and transmission between humans has never been documented in the US.
    • Avian flu, specifically H5N1, in U.S. poultry flocks has been increasing since September, driven by the migration of wild birds.

REALITY CHECK

These fact checks respond to several recent claims made by different groups and individuals.

CLAIM: The rise in allergies and asthma among American children is likely linked to the childhood vaccine schedule and more specifically to vaccineingredients like aluminum.

  • REALITY: Several major studies have been conducted examining potential links between vaccination and allergies, and none have found any association between routine childhood vaccines and the development of allergies, asthma, or autoimmune conditions.
  • Aluminum, which is used as an adjuvant in some vaccines, has also been specifically and extensively researched for decades. This research—including a 20+ year study of over 1.2 million children—has demonstrated that the aluminum present in some vaccines is not linked to an increased risk of developing allergic disorders or other long-term health conditions.
    • Notably, the amount of aluminum present in some vaccines is extremely small. Infants, for example, routinely ingest more aluminum from breast milk or formula, which the body is able to efficiently process and eliminate.
  • It is also important to note that for children with allergies and asthma, vaccines can provide meaningful protection—helping prevent infections like measles, RSV, and pertussis that can trigger severe respiratory inflammation, and reducing the risk of asthma attacks associated with respiratory illnesses like the flu.
  • Research has also examined whether preventing infections through vaccination can actually reduce the immune disruption that can contribute to allergic disease.
    • Current evidence suggests that infection with pertussis in infancy may be associated with an increased risk of developing allergies and asthma later in childhood, suggesting that preventing infection through vaccination may help protect against childhood allergic disease.
    • Research also shows that severe infections, such as measles infections, can cause “immune amnesia”—which refers to the wiping or suppression, and reshaping of the immune system—leaving children more susceptible to immune-related complications for years after infection.

CLAIM: There is evidence that mRNA vaccines make people more likely to get respiratory illnesses like colds, the flu, and other infections, and can even cause something called VAIDS (Vaccine Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).

  • REALITY: There is no credible evidence that mRNA vaccines cause general immune system collapse or lead to widespread vulnerability to infection. Further, “VAIDS” is not a recognized medical condition and has no basis in scientific research.
    • While vaccines can sometimes cause mild, temporary side effects like fatigue, fever, or soreness at the injection site, these are normal immune responses and do not indicate lasting immune damage.
    • It’s also true that people can still get respiratory infections after being vaccinated, but this is expected as no single vaccine provides 100% protection against a specific illness.
  • Despite some claims from vaccine-skeptical groups and individuals, serious immunodeficiency disorders are not caused by mRNA vaccines.
  • Those that claim otherwise often cite a large Korean study, which did find a slight increase in mild upper respiratory infections (such as the common cold) among those with more Covid vaccine doses. However, the study’s authors emphasized that this was likely due to confounding factors including age differences and post-pandemic exposure changes rather than a causal effect of vaccination.
    • Further, the same study also showed that people who received more vaccine doses had lower risks of severe respiratory illnesses including pertussis, flu-like illness, pneumonia, and tuberculosis compared to those who were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.
  • The benefits of mRNA Covid vaccines continue to far outweigh any of the rare and mild side effects associated with the vaccine, and ongoing research shows they remain highly effective at protecting against severe illness, hospitalization, and death.

CLAIM: The seasonal flu vaccine doesn’t match the flu strain that’s currently circulating, which means it doesn’t work and people shouldn’t get vaccinated. 

  • REALITY: Flu vaccines are developed before flu season begins, meaning that sometimes it’s not a perfect match for strains that end up circulating. But even when this happens, the vaccine still provides meaningful protection against illness and serious complications.
  • Studies show that those who are vaccinated remain less likely to get severely ill, need hospitalization, or die from the flu, even if they still catch a mild infection.
  • This protection also helps reduce the spread of flu in the community, which protects people at higher risk for complications like young children, older adults, and those with chronic health conditions.
  • For all these reasons, the CDC and other leading public health organizations recommend annual flu vaccination for almost everyone 6 months and older—as some protection is always better than none.

CLAIM: mRNA vaccines contain DNA fragments that are harmful and unsafe—they can even alter your DNA and cause long-term health issues.

  • REALITY: Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines do not contain large amounts of DNA or harmful DNA fragments.
    • The vaccines are made with  mRNA, which provides a temporary set of instructions that cells use to make a harmless protein. This process cannot alter your DNA.
  • It is true that very tiny, trace amounts of residual DNA leftover from the production process may be present in some vaccines, but if any DNA is present, it is extremely small and strictly regulated. The FDA limits residual DNA to no more than 10 nanograms (billionths of a single gram) per dose, and it is not possible for these fragments to integrate into our genomes or cause genetic changes.
    • To put it in perspective, everyday exposures to foreign DNA through bacteria, food, and other sources is significantly higher than the exposure to residual fragments that may be present in a vaccine—and our cells have mechanisms to breakdown or avoid them.
  • Extensive research has underscored this fact, demonstrating that mRNA vaccines are broadly safeand do not lead to DNA changes, cancer, or other long-term health issues.

WHAT TO WATCH

Upcoming ACIP Meeting – December 4-5, 2025

  • According to the meeting announcement posted last week (November 12) to the Federal Register, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will meet December 4-5.
  • The meeting agenda signals potential votes on the timing of the hepatitis B vaccine (including possibly delaying the birth dose), and updates to the childhood and adolescent immunization schedules.

Federal Officials Weigh Changes to VaccineIngredients and Design

  • US health authorities—under Secretary Kennedy’s direction—are reportedly considering major changes to vaccine design and formulations.
    • Proposed changes include removing adjuvants and separating combination vaccines—changes which, if implemented, could upend the current childhood vaccine schedule.
    • Manufacturers and public health experts warn that these adjustments could lead to supply challenges, disrupt evidence-based recommendations, and undermine public confidence and uptake.

Vaccinate Your Family is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting people of all ages from vaccine-preventable diseases. To learn more, visit us at: vaccinateyourfamily.org

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