CDC COVID Vaccine Recommendation Official Panagiotakopoulos Resigns

Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos resigned from her role as one of the leads in the Centers for Disease Control’s work group on COVID vaccines in the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

In email notifying the rest of her work group, she wrote, “My career in public health and vaccinology started with a deep-seated desire to help the most vulnerable members of our population, and that is not something I am able to continue doing in this role.”

CDC’s vaccine recommendations are closely linked with federal policies and programs. They affect liability protections, insurance coverage for vaccinations, and access to vaccines for uninsured children. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hamstrung the COVID work group in ACIP when he imposed his political will on the recommendations ahead of the work group’s meeting later this month to finalize its update.

Softening guidance for children was already up for discussion, but excluding pregnant women from COVID vaccine recommendations goes heavily against scientific findings.

About this resignation, one health official told CBS News, “More of us should be resigning in protest.”

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