Public Comment on National Vaccine Plan Needed Friday, February 6th National Vaccine Advisory Committee Meeting Public Comment on National Vaccine Plan Needed! More Info Friday, February 6th National Vaccine Advisory Committee Meeting   Public Comment on National Vaccine Plan Needed! Friday, February 6th National Vaccine Advisory Committee Meeting WHAT:  Open meeting of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee with Stakeholders to discuss the 2008 Draft Strategic National Vaccine Plan.  This is one of the initial steps in updating the 1994 National Vaccine Plan. WHERE & WHEN:  Friday, February 6th 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC.  Comments or questions about the draft Plan and planning process may be directed to the National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO) at nvpo@....  Click Here attend the meeting in person or audio conference to attend. To view the draft plan, click 2008 Draft Strategic National Vaccine Plan (PDF).  Click agenda for tomorrow’s schedule. BACKGROUND:  During Monday’s third stakeholder meeting by Institute of Medicine to review priorities in the National Vaccine Plan, panel members Dr. Louis Z. Cooper and Dr. Samuel Katz stated that more honesty in communications with parents with regard to vaccines were needed.  Dr. Cooper added that communication should be coordinated and based on sound vaccine safety science and noted that that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) spent $300 billion on the promotion of vaccines, while spending only  $20 billion on vaccine safety research.  Dr. Cooper stated that this sound science had been “done on the cheap” and was seriously deficient.   Many public comments at this meeting centered on parents concerns on lack of information received from physicians on vaccine risks and the need for a comprehensive study of vaccinated and unvaccinated populations to determine total health outcomes (e.g. – mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, etc.), possible detrimental effects of current timeline of immunization schedule and the number of vaccines given at any one time. In sharp contrast, CDC’s Glen Nowak, CDC’s Media Director, response was “less is more” in terms of information given to parents.  During yesterday’s Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) meeting, NVAC’s Dr. Gellin stated that parent concerns were not limited to the autism community and the need to address these concerns to restore the public’s trust in the immunization program. The vaccine schedule has never been tested to assess interaction when multiple are given!   ACTION NEEDED: Keep pressure on the NVAC to respond to legitimate vaccine-safety concerns!  Ask for NVAC to include in their recommendations a higher investment in unbiased vaccine-safety research and a comprehensive study of vaccinated and unvaccinated populations to determine total health outcomes.  Send comments to nvpo@....  Click here to attend the meeting in person or here to attend audio conference.