U of M launches vaccine safeguard project amid federal uncertainty
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A team of health experts is launching an independent project that could start its own vaccine evaluations and guidelines — apart from federal health agencies.
The University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) announced the Vaccine Integrity Project on Thursday. CIDRAP director Michael Osterholm said it’s intended to safeguard vaccine information, research or access in case the federal government doesn’t.
“Our first, second and third choice is to have our federal government do its job,” Osterholm said. “But if that doesn’t happen, there has to be alternative voices out here that are based on the science.”
He cited Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s track record of vaccine skepticism and mixed messaging about the measles vaccine amid an outbreak, and a postponed-and-rescheduled meeting of a federal vaccine advisory group.
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The Vaccine Integrity Project is starting with an eight-person steering committee. It’s meeting with a range of vaccine experts, including state health officials, vaccine manufacturers and academics. That group is co-chaired by former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg and health policy researcher Dr. Harvey Fineberg.
This information-gathering phase will last until early August. Osterholm said speed is important, as federal vaccine policy could change quickly — but he wants to take time to plan.
“We do not want to get ahead of our headlights,” Osterholm said. “We’re committed to hearing from all of those who have an important role in the vaccine enterprise.”
Absent from that group are current members of federal health agencies.
“We will surely hear messaging from those who work with them, but there’s no one from CDC or FDA that’s involved with the steering committee, or the activities we have right now,” Osterholm said.
Osterholm said the project could take a lot of paths, depending on what the steering committee learns. It might establish its own vaccine evaluations, clinical guidelines and research recommendations. It could also review federal decisions and messaging around vaccines and publish its own information, if members see gaps in federal communication.
The project is starting with a $240,000 grant from Alumbra, a foundation established by billionaire Christy Walton. Osterholm said the project will seek additional funding depending on its next steps.
Osterholm said it’s an approach he wouldn’t have imagined taking until the Trump administration took office. But he said experts want reassurance vaccine information will stay stable — reassurance they’re not getting from the federal government.
“It’s hard to know what is going to happen the next day in public health,” Osterholm said. “We have to be open to whatever could come down the pike, and it’s going to be challenging.”