The Trump administration and vaccine critics are clashing over whether to remove COVID vaccines from the market entirely, a leader of a key federal vaccine advisory committee has publicly suggested.

Why it matters: It's shaping up to be a big test of whether Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. keeps his pledge that vaccines will remain available to anyone who wants them.

Driving the news: Robert Malone — a Kennedy ally and vice chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — has publicly accused FDA commissioner Marty Makary of blocking efforts to remove COVID vaccines from the market.

• Asked recently on X about who's holding up pulling the shots, Malone responded "Commissioner FDA."

Malone later vowed to take action against the shots from his perch on the advisory committee, which makes formal recommendations to the CDC and is due to meet in February.

• "I'm not deaf to the calls that we need to get the COVID vaccine mRNA products off the market. All I can say is stay tuned. ... If the FDA won't act, there are other entities that will," he recently said on a call with MAHA Action, a nonprofit aligned with Kennedy's political movement.

What we're watching: COVID vaccines will likely be on the agenda at February's meeting, though the details still are being determined, according to a source familiar with the plans.

• The committee member in charge of a task force reviewing the safety of the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna has previously described them as "the most failing medical product in the history of medical products" and called for them to be removed from the market, per the New York Times.
• But the committee's power is limited to making recommendations to CDC leadership, and members have no authority to revoke vaccine licenses.

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Kennedy completed an overhaul of the federal committee that advises the government on autism policy by appointing several well-known vaccine critics.

Why it matters: Adding anti-vaccine figures could give Kennedy cover to push for more studies and other actions that promote the widely debunked claim that vaccines may cause autism.

State of play: Among 21 new members are John Gilmore, executive director of the Autism Action Network, which advocates against vaccine mandates, and Toby Rogers, a fellow at the Brownstone Institute for Social and Economic Research, per a Wednesday announcement.

• Rogers has written for the Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy. He testified at a House hearing in September that chronic disease epidemics "are primarily caused by toxicants — mostly from vaccines."
• Walter Zahorodny, a psychologist who has already spoken publicly with Kennedy about autism research, will also serve.

Committee recommendations are nonbinding, but shape autism research and programs.

• The committee held its most recent public meeting on Jan. 14, 2025, just days before the Trump administration took office. The terms of people who served at that time have since expired.
• A meeting of the new panel will be announced soon, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told Axios.

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Trump health officials yesterday proposed tightening oversight of the groups that recover organs from deceased donors for transplantation.

Why it matters: The procurement system has been under scrutiny for pervasive quality issues and reports of instances in which organs were being removed from donors while they still showed signs of life.

State of play: CMS is now seeking new record-keeping requirements for organs used for research and to update quality assessment requirements.

• Officials also want to update the definitions of terms like "adverse events" and "unsound medical procedures" to improve clarity for organizations.

Zoom in: CMS also proposed updating recertification requirements that would incentivize organ procurement organizations to compete to take over management of historically low-performing service areas.

What they're saying: The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations told Axios in a statement that it's evaluating the proposal and "always welcomes ... clarity concerning OPO oversight."

• UNOS, the nonprofit that manages most network functions under a government contract, said it "strongly supports the important steps" outlined in the proposal.

South Carolina's measles outbreak has expanded to 789 cases, surpassing the West Texas outbreak early last year that brought the first U.S. measles fatalities in a decade.

The big picture: The majority of cases are close contacts of people known to be infected, but the increased number of public exposure sites indicates that measles is circulating in the community and increasing the risk to those who lack immunity, the state Department of Public Health said yesterday.

• The outbreak continues to center on Spartanburg County in the northwest corner of the state, where vaccination rates were below the 95% threshold public health authorities say is needed to contain the virus' spread.

By the numbers: There have been 89 new cases in South Carolina since last Friday.

• 557 people are in quarantine and 20 are in isolation.
• 692 of the cases have been in unvaccinated people, and another 63 had unknown vaccination status.
• 345 of the cases were in children between the ages of 5 to 11.

What's ahead: The Pan American Health Organization in April will decide if the United States will lose the measles elimination status it was granted in 2000.

⚖️ The FDA asked a federal court to pause a Louisiana lawsuit seeking to end access to abortion pills by mail while it conducts its own review of mifepristone. (CNN)

💉 The administration is asking Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to phase out the use of vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal if it wants future U.S. funding. (CIDRAP)

🧠 Positive expectations can boost the immune system's response to vaccination, shedding new light on the brain's role regulating health, research shows. (The Economist)