So at this point, I will open up the floor to public comments.
Is there anyone here in the room who would like to make public comments?
Yes.
Erin Fry Sosne: Hello, my name is Erin Fry Sosne, and I'm
here on behalf of PATH.
As an organization dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of people around
the world, we're very pleased to see the midcourse review of recommendations coming out of NVAC,
and congratulations on completing those.
I know it was quite a feat.
We appreciate you having gone through our comments on the board, so I won't elaborate
on those at this time, but I did want to emphasize the recognition of the role global immunization
plays in protecting Americans at home and abroad, and our global citizens.
And, particularly, the inclusion of the Global Vaccine Action Plan indicators will be very
important as we move forward in ensuring that the efforts of the U.S. government are aligned
with the global community.
PATH is very much looking forward to see the Assistant Secretary of Health implement these
recommendations, and we're looking forward to partner as those implementation plans are
developed.
On a related note, we're pleased to see the NVAC members working to ensure that U.S. efforts
to combat antimicrobial resistance are also paying great attention to the role of immunization
in that effort, both from vaccine development and delivery as well.
As you know, vaccines are the safest and most cost-effective way of preventing disease,
disability, and death worldwide, and robust immunization programming around the world,
from development through delivery, is essential for the safety of Americans and the world's
citizens, and I would like to thank you on behalf of PATH, NVAC, for your tireless efforts
for 30 years to ensure that scientific evidence informs decision-making, and your role will
continue to be important as we move ahead.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for that comment.
Are there any other comments in the room?
Okay.
I don't see any, so operator, could you please find out if there are any people on the line
who would like to make a public comment?
We have a public comment on the audio portion.
Please press star one.
Please unmute your phone and record your name clearly when prompted.
One moment, please.
I do have one comment coming through.
One moment.
And, Theresa, your line is open.
Theresa Wrangham: Thank you.
Good afternoon, and I appreciate the opportunity to offer public comment today.
My name is Theresa Wrangham, and I'm the executive director for the National Vaccine Information
Center, formerly Dissatisfied Parents Together.
Industry overview provided earlier relating to NVIC and the TV documentary DPT: Vaccine
Roulette is generally correct.
However, NVIC takes exception to today's use of Mr. Manookian's quote characterizing NVIC,
and the vaccine informed consent movement we subsequently launched, as anti-vaccine.
This mischaracterization is clearly an alternative fact with no basis in reality, and does our
organization a great disservice.
To be clear and factual, NVIC's mission statement embraces the informed consent ethic, a core
lesson imparted by the Nuremberg Code.
Our historical accomplishments and well-documented work with several agencies support this fact.
Advocating for informed consent in vaccination is a human rights issue, and is not anti-vaccine
any more than kicking the tires on a car, asking a car salesman about vehicle performance
and fuel efficiency, or raising vehicle safety concerns with the automotive industry is anti-car.
With respect, our founders and early supporters vaccinated their children in good faith, only
to see their children sustain lifelong injuries that forever changed them, or their child's
death, due to a vaccine-adverse event.
But instead of taking an anti-vaccine position, our founders adopted an informed consent platform
which remains the core value of NVIC's mission work today.
As part of our mission work, NVIC advocates for transparency with the public by government
agencies and all involved in vaccine development on what is known and unknown relating to vaccine
risks in support of educated decision-making.
Because vaccines are pharmaceutical products, they can and do cause injury and death.
They are subject to informed consent, which is, in short, the human right of individuals
and parents to have access to accurate risk and benefit information on disease and vaccines
and the ability to voluntarily accept, delay, or decline one or more vaccines for themselves
or their children without interference or sanctions.
NVIC appreciates the acknowledgement of our past service to the NVAC.
We would add that during our 35-year history, our co-founders worked with Congress and secured
the vaccine safety informing, recording, and reporting provisions contained in the National
Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act of 1986, as well as having board members,
staff, and volunteers serve on other vaccine-related federal advisory committees and work groups.
NVIC is also a current member of Consumers United for Evidence-Based Healthcare under
the Cochrane Collaboration, has served on the Institute of Medicine's Vaccine Safety
Forum, and currently participates in the CDC VIS revision process.
It is therefore unfortunate that in recent NVAC stakeholder efforts and reports relating
to, for example, vaccine hesitancy, adult and maternal vaccination, and the midcourse
review, that the NVAC did not seek to include NVIC's representation of consumer informed
consent concerns.
It is our hope that future stakeholder and work group efforts led by the NVAC will be
more inclusive of the constituency we have historically represented.
With regards to statements on the pitfalls of a one-size-fits-all approach to vaccination,
we note that reports by the Institute of Medicine acknowledge that individual susceptibilities
and genetic predispositions are likely to play a role in vaccine injury and highlight
the folly of a one-size-fits-all vaccination approach.
Today, there is no healthcare professional or public health official that can predict
who will be injured, protected, or not protected by a vaccine prior to vaccination.
Should scientific advances discussed today become the norm, these advances must never
override the informed consent ethic and the human right to make voluntary healthcare choices
without sanction, inclusive of vaccines.
With regards to necessity of vaccines to be profitable for vaccine manufacturers, it does
not ethically follow that consumers should be burdened with mandates to use vaccines
acknowledged as unavoidably unsafe to ensure the fiscal success of corporate entities.
Where there is risk, there must be choice, without coercion, penalty, and demonization,
particularly when the choice falls outside the majority view.
Lastly, we note that public comments for those on the phone was not offered for the midcourse
review portion of this meeting as it was for those present.
We appreciate the opportunity to provide public comment today.
Thank you.
Thank you for that comment.
Operator, is there any other comment on the phone?
No further public comment on the phone.
Thank you very much.
Okay, so I would like to hand it [inaudible] to Bruce to see if he would like to make any
closing remarks before we end the day, and otherwise, thank you all very much for an
engaging day.
Okay, thank you all very much for an engaging discussion -- engaging discussions.
We will see you all tomorrow.
Please, if you think of it, take your name tag off and leave it on the table.
Those of you who we said to stay for the photo, please make sure you make your way up for
the photo before you head out, and we'll see you tomorrow.
Thank you.