FDA cancels meeting to choose flu vaccine strain

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) abruptly canceled a vaccine advisory meeting where members were slated to discuss influenza vaccine strains.

The meeting was scheduled for March 13. Committee members received an email informing them of the cancellation Wednesday afternoon with no rescheduling information and no reason given for the cancellation, committee member Paul Offit confirmed.

The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meets every March to determine which flu strains should be targeted, in order to give companies time to update their vaccines ahead of the upcoming flu season.

"A planned March 13 meeting of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on the influenza vaccine strains for the 2025-2026 influenza season in the northern hemisphere has been cancelled," Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson Andrew Nixon told The Hill. "The FDA will make public its recommendations to manufacturers in time for updated vaccines to be available for the 2025-2026 influenza season."

If the HHS was to not make any flu strain recommendations, companies would likely have to rely on those made by a panel led by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is meeting this week. Despite President Trump intending to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is still reportedly participating in the meeting.

The FDA panel's recommendations are heavily influenced by the WHO and often largely adopts the global organization's recommendations without changes.

The cancellation of the FDA meeting, alongside a similar postponement last week of a meeting of CDC vaccine advisers, is adding to the growing concern among scientists and public health advocates that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is using his position to interfere with the vaccine approval process and sow doubts about their safety and effectiveness.

Kennedy has said he thinks the country's top health regulatory agencies are held captive by corporate interests, including pharmaceutical companies. He has pledged to root out conflicts of interest across the agency he leads, particularly among members of scientific advisory panels.

Flu shots are not always a perfect match for the strain that becomes dominant in the fall and winter, so their effectiveness can vary. Still, public health experts say getting vaccinated can reduce the severity of the flu and help prevent its spread.

So far this flu season, 86 children and 19,000 adults have died from the virus, according to the CDC.

Updated at 10:09 a.m. EST

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