Category: Vaccine

Two inverse vaccines from Nykode Therapeutics developed to teach the immune system not to respond against its own body worked to reduce disease severity in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), new data show.

This adds to earlier findings that the companys experimental approach and its TV004 inverse vaccine can prevent the disease from developing in mice by making the immune system unresponsive to a protein involved in MS without fully disrupting the immune response.

These findings represent progress in our ongoing research into inverse vaccines and autoimmune disease treatment, Agnete Fredriksen, PhD, Nykodes chief scientific officer and co-founder, said in a company press release.

A poster detailing the findings, titled Tolerogenic APC-targeted Vaccibody Vaccines Treat Disease in Mouse Models of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis and Non-Obese Diabetes, was presented at the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) 2024 annual meeting, held June 18-21 in San Francisco.

Michael Engsig, Nykodes CEO, said the company is planning initiatives to advance our efforts in developing an inverse vaccine, also known as a Vaccibody.

We are excited about the progress and promise of Nykodes inverse vaccine platform for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, Engsig said.

In MS, the immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath, a fatty layer that protects nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Such attacks cause inflammation and damage, and result in a range of symptoms that worsen over time.

Nykodes inverse vaccine technology is designed to teach the immune system not to respond against a given target, inducing immune tolerance to that target.

It does that by delivering lab-made DNA molecules to muscles cells with instructions to produce an inverse vaccine, or Vaccibody. The Vaccibody proteins are then secreted by the cells and, once in circulation, they recruit and bind to antigen-presenting cells, called APCs.

APCs are immune cells that present antigens any substance that triggers an immune response to immune T-cells, triggering an immune response against those antigens. But Vaccibody vaccines are instead developed to recruit APCs that present antigens to regulatory T-cells, which limit the activity of other immune cells.

In addition to TV004, the company developed another Vaccibody inverse vaccine called TV036. Both are designed to induce tolerance against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), a myelin protein. However, they bind to different targets in APCs.

In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a widely used model of MS, mice usually develop their first symptoms within one week, and tail paralysis within about two weeks. As the disease progresses, paralysis spreads to the hind legs and then to the forearms.

In the lab, the mice were given an intravenous (into-the-vein) injection of TV004 or TV036 at seven and three days before experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis was induced. In these animals, disease severity was reduced, and tail and hind paralysis were prevented for up to 28 days.

Similar findings were obtained when the intravenous injections were given at seven and 10 days after experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis was induced, when some symptoms could have already developed.

[Nykode is] aiming to develop a new class of drugs that are antigen-specific, with the potential to be both long-lasting and have limited side effects. By exploring different targeting units and their impact compared to antigen delivery, Nykode aims to refine therapies that could offer new options for autoimmune conditions.

Using targeting units toward two different receptors on APCs, both Vaccibody inverse vaccines showed potent disease protection in preventive and early therapeutic settings, the researchers wrote in an abstract to the poster presented at FOCIS 2024.

Fredriksen said Nykode is aiming to develop a new class of drugs that are antigen-specific, with the potential to be both long-lasting and have limited side effects.

By exploring different targeting units and their impact compared to antigen delivery, Nykode aims to refine therapies that could offer new options for autoimmune conditions, Fredriksen said.

According to Engsig, Nykode is establishing a subsidiary within the company focused on further progressing the immune tolerance platform.

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Nykode inverse vaccines work to ease disease severity in MS mice - Multiple Sclerosis News Today

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case Monday challenging Connecticut legislation that repealed religious exemptions for school vaccine requirements in 2021.

In a lawsuit, three Connecticut parents and two organizations, We the Patriots USA, Inc., and the CT Freedom Alliance, had argued that the state was violating their First Amendment rights with its passage of Public Act 21-6, which eliminated the ability for Connecticut families to apply for a religious exemption to mandated immunizations when a student is enrolling in school. The plaintiffs sued the state departments of education and public health, the Office of Early Childhood Development and three local boards of education.

The decision from the Supreme Court puts an end to a three-year legal battle after decisions by the district court and U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled in the states favor.

This is the end of the road to a challenge to Connecticuts lifesaving and fully lawful vaccine requirements, said Attorney General William Tong in a news release. We have said all along, and the courts have affirmed the legislature acted responsibly and well within its authority to protect the health of Connecticut families and to stop the spread of preventable disease.

We the Patriots USA, Inc. is a nonprofit that focuses on reclaim[ing] our God-given inalienable rights including but not limited to the rights recorded in the United States Constitution through litigation, education, and advocacy, according to its website.

Brian Festa, co-founder and vice president of the nonprofit, called the Supreme Courts decision disappointing.

Right now, someone might be on one side of the political aisle or on a spectrum when it comes to the issue of vaccinations, but then there might be something else that they object to for religious reasons that theyre not allowed to object to anymore, Festa said. If you keep having rulings like this, what it does is, it sets the precedent that youre not allowed to refuse things for any reason, for personal reasons, religious reasons, anything if the state mandates something, puts something in your body you have to do it.

In April 2021, Connecticut became the fourth state to pass a law ending a religious exemption for school vaccinations, following California in 2015 and New York and Maine in 2019.

By grandfathering any K-12 student who already had an exemption, the Connecticut law initiated a phase-out, not an immediate ban. The grandfather provision did not extend to daycares and preschools.

Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said the 2021 legislation had closed a loophole for non-medical vaccine exemptions and embraced a common sense vaccination policy that protects the health and safety of all students.

This law has now withstood legal scrutiny at every level of our judicial system, and its perseverance represents a victory for parents and students, who are less likely to be infected by preventable illnesses, the two lawmakers said in a joint statement.

But the battle is not over for Festas organization.

Festa said one claim from the case remains active within the district court regarding students with disabilities and whether special needs children are entitled to receive an education, even if they opt out of vaccinations.

We are not fighting only for children whose parents refuse all vaccinations. It might just be one or two particular vaccinations, Festa said. And to have your child denied education and all services, especially a special needs child, simply because you opted out of one or two vaccinations, is just to me, appalling and really tragic for these children.

Tongs office says theyre confident that the IDEA claim will be dismissed by the District Court on remand.

We the Patriots Inc. has a second case pending on behalf of Milford Christian Church and whether a church can honor religious exemptions in its private day cares and schools.

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CT religious vaccine exemption ban will hold; SCOTUS rejects case - The Connecticut Mirror

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory group today updated its advice for use of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine in adults, which now recommends that all people ages 75 and older receive a single lifetime dose, and that people ages 60 to 74 who have certain underlying conditions also receive a dose of the vaccine.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations, which still need to be accepted by the CDC director, represent an evolving RSV vaccine landscape and availability, as well as new scientific findings that the group uses to guide it policy recommendations.

The group voted separately on recommendations for the two different age groups, and both passed unanimously on11 to 0 votes.

Since the CDC first recommended the vaccine for use in ages 60 and older in June 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the end of May approved a third RSV vaccine for use in older adults, an mRNA product made by Moderna. Earlier this month it approved expanded use of Arexvy, made by GSK, for at-risk adults ages 50 to 59.

The updated recommendations come ahead of the second respiratory virus season with the availability of an RSV vaccine for adults, which is thought to hospitalize 60,000 to 160,000 older adults each year, with the biggest burden in those who have chronic heart and lung problems and weakened immune systems.

ACIP has also grappled with the wording of recommendation. When it recommended the vaccine for use in adults ages 60 and older last summer, it did so with a "shared clinical decision making" recommendation, terminology the CDC uses when some uncertainty exists about benefits and risks.

However, the group has acknowledged that shared clinical decision making isn't simple in clinical practice and may contribute to unclear messaging regarding the need to vaccinate.

The group today postponed a recommendation for use of Arexvy in people ages 50 to 59, due to a lack of data that would support a population-based recommendation and lingering concerns about the risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) following RSV vaccination.

ACIP members acknowledged that the recommendation for adults ages 60 to 75 was less permissive than last year's advice, which would likely mean those who aren't in risk groups would need to pay out of pocket for the RSV vaccine, which could cost as much as $400. Several said the group's advice typically settles over time when new vaccines enter the market. Matthew Daley, MD, ACIP member and senior investigator with the Institute for Health Research at Kaiser Permanente Colorado, said a shift in recommendations reflects the nature of uncertainty, as scientists gather and analyze more data.

Members also welcomed a list of specific underlying conditions that its RSV vaccine work group pulled together, which they said will help with making clinical decisions for patients ages 60 to 75. Conditions include lung disease, cardiovascular disease, moderate or severe immune compromise, diabetes with end-organ damage, severe obesity, neurologic or neuromuscular conditions, advanced chronic kidney disease, liver disorders, and hematologic disorders.

To add flexibility for doctors treating patients in this age group, the list includes an "other chronic medical conditions" category for when health providers believe other patients are at increased risk of RSV complications.

After the vote, Jamie Loehr, MD, ACIP member and owner of Cayuga Family Medicine in Ithaca, New York, emphasized that the small but real risk of GBS weighed heavily on the group's risk-benefit assessments in the two age groups, given that it is a severe neurological disease that can hospitalized patients for months.

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CDC panel revises RSV vaccine recommendations for adults - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

All adults ages 75 years and older should receive a single dose of any respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, and adults ages 60 to 74 years who are at increased risk of severe RSV disease should receive a vaccine, according to a unanimous 11-0 vote by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

Also, people who have already received the RSV vaccine are not recommended to receive a booster, based on data that showed another dose did not improve outcomes.

These recommendations supplant the current recommendation that adults ages 60 and older may receive RSV vaccination after engaging in shared clinical decision-making with their healthcare provider.

There are currently three RSV vaccines available for use in older adults -- GSK's adjuvanted RSV prefusion F protein-based vaccine (Arexvy), Pfizer's unadjuvanted, bivalent RSV prefusion F protein vaccine (Abrysvo), and Moderna's mRNA-1345 vaccine (mRESVIA).

Since the ACIP issued the first RSV vaccine recommendation for adults in 2023, the shared decision-making recommendation has proven problematic in clinical practice, Camille Kotton, MD, chair of the ACIP's Adult RSV Work Group, told the committee. "We have learned from feedback from healthcare providers that having shared decision-making conversations is not simple," she said. "Unlike a universal recommendation where there's a clear call to vaccinate, with shared clinical decision-making the call to action is to discuss with a healthcare provider -- a less clear message."

The recommendation also clarified that although the vaccine is universally recommended for those 75 and older, adults 60 to 74 who are not at increased risk of severe disease do not need to receive an RSV vaccine.

Who exactly is at high-risk for severe disease? The committee offered a list of chronic medical conditions associated with risk for severe RSV disease -- such as lung disease, cardiovascular disease, moderate or severe immune compromise, diabetes mellitus with end-organ damage, severe obesity, and other systemic diseases -- that will be provided by the CDC.

Benefits Still Outweigh Risks?

The benefits of the RSV vaccine in older adults continue to outweigh the small documented risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome that was linked with the vaccine, Michael Melgar, MD, co-lead of the Adult RSV Work Group, said in a presentation. "Bottom line, preventable outcomes far exceed potential cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome for both [GSK and Pfizer] vaccine products," Melgar commented during an overview of vaccine benefits and risks.

Earlier in the day, James Donahue, PhD, DVM, MPH, of the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute in Wisconsin, presented recent surveillance data from Vaccine Safety Datalink that revealed a small statistical signal for immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) with the GSK vaccine. Upon review, most cases were determined to not be new cases that emerged after RSV vaccination. However, ongoing chart review is planned.

No Recommendations for RSV Vaccination in Adults Ages 50-59

The committee decided there was not enough data on benefits versus risks to recommend for or against the use of GSK's Arexvy vaccine in people ages 50 to 59 years at risk for severe RSV-associated disease, according to Amadea Britton, MD, co-lead of the Adult RSV Vaccine Work Group. On June 10, the FDA expanded the approval of Arexvy to include at-risk adults in this age group.

"This does not mean that the Work Group feels that RSV disease in this age group is unimportant," she said. "This opinion is also not a recommendation against the use of the RSV vaccine in adults aged 50 to 59 years. Rather, the Work Group believes more information is needed to make a population-level policy."

In other meeting news, the ACIP also voted unanimously to recommend that the combined diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis, inactivated poliovirus, Haemophilus influenza type b conjugate and hepatitis type B vaccine (DTaP-IPV-Hib-HepB) (Vaxelis) should be included with PRP-OMP (PedvaxHIB) in the preferential recommendation for American Indian and Alaska Native infants based on the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)Hib component.

Previously, Vaxelis did not have a preferential recommendation for these infants because it contains PRP-OMP in a lower amount than PedvaxHIB, and post-dose 1 immunogenicity data were not previously available, Melgar explained.

Katherine Kahn is a staff writer at MedPage Today, covering the infectious diseases beat. She has been a medical writer for over 15 years.

Disclosures

Kotton, Melgar, and Britton reported no ties to industry.

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ACIP Makes Changes to Adult RSV Vaccine Recommendations - Medpage Today

Makers of RSV vaccines for older adults saw their plans to try to expand usage hit a significant hurdle on Wednesday, when an expert committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines recommended changes that will likely see fewer older adults qualify for insurance coverage for these products.

In a related move, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices opted not to make a recommendation yet on use of GSKs Arexvy vaccine in adults 50 to 59, saying the committee didnt have enough data with which to make such a recommendation. Earlier this month the Food and Drug Administration approved use of the GSK vaccine to include adults in their 50s at high risk of developing severe disease if they contract respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. When it was initially approved in May 2023, its use was restricted to people 60 and older.

The decision is a blow to GSK, which has been racing to secure market share in a field that now includes two competitors, Pfizer and Moderna. To that end, GSK used a priority review voucher to speed its age extension application through the FDA approval process. The agency is currently reviewing an application from Pfizer to extend the license for its RSV vaccine, Abrysvo, to include adults 18 and older who have health conditions that put them at risk of severe illness from RSV infection.

STAT reached out to GSK for comment but none was forthcoming at the time of publication.

Without a recommendation for use from the ACIP and the CDC, insurance companies are unlikely to cover the cost of the GSK vaccine for people in their 50s. And at nearly $300 a dose not including administration fees those individuals may be reluctant to pay out of pocket.

The final decision on vaccination use policy rests with the CDC director, Mandy Cohen. Late Wednesday the CDC issued a statement adopting the recommendations the ACIP had approved about an hour before.

The CDC has updated its RSV vaccination recommendation for older adults to prioritize those at highest risk for serious illness from RSV, Cohen said in the statement.

In particular, the work group suggested it needs information on how adults in their 50s who have immunocompromising conditions react to the vaccine what kind of antibody responses it generates more data on whether additional shots will boost protection that has waned. Some of the data to date suggest the reaction to booster shots is not as powerful as the response to the initial vaccine. ACIP member Sarah Long, a pediatrics professor at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, worried that if boosting isnt effective, giving the RSV vaccine too soon might squander a tool that could be more needed later in life. Long and others on the committee worried that given the possible link to GBS, the risk-benefit ratio for people in their 50s may not favor vaccination in the way it does in older adults.

RSV vaccines for older adults are new. The first two, from GSK and Pfizer, were approved last spring and were rolled out for the first time in the autumn. Initially licensed only for adults 60 and older, the ACIP opted last June not to make a universal recommendation for their use, in the way that everyone is urged to get an annual flu shot. Instead, it suggested people who were eligible could get one of the vaccines, but should first talk to a health care provider to weigh the risks and benefits of getting vaccinated.

That approach, called shared decision-making, made sense to a committee that was reluctant to urge everyone 60 and older to get a shot, given that there are concerns that a small number of people who get the Pfizer and GSK vaccines particularly the former may develop Guillain-Barr syndrome, a form of progressive paralysis from which people normally recover, but after an extended period of hospitalization. There were no reports of Guillain-Barr syndrome among people in the clinical trials that led to the approval of Modernas RSV vaccine, mResvia, which was just approved by the FDA at the end of May.

Doctors and pharmacists complained about the shared decision-making recommendation, indicating they didnt always know how to advise patients. There are concerns that the recommendation may have depressed uptake of the vaccine.

So the ACIPs RSV work group proposed changing the recommendation in two ways, both of which were unanimously accepted by the full committee. In a vote of 11 to 0, the committee recommended that people aged 75 and older should get an RSV shot, if they have not yet had one. While its known the protection of these vaccines wanes with time, its not yet clear what the optimal cadence for revaccination is. So at present there is no recommendation for people who were vaccinated already to get another RSV shot.

In the second vote, the committee recommended that people aged 60 to 74 who have health conditions that put them at high risk of severe illness from RSV should also get the vaccine. People aged 60 to 74 who do not have one of the health conditions named could still get the vaccine, if they wish. But without an ACIP/CDC recommendation, they would have to pay out-of-pocket, committee chair Helen Keipp Talbot noted.

The health conditions listed include lung disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes with end organ damage, severe obesity, neurological or neuromuscular conditions, advanced chronic kidney disease, liver disorder, or blood disorders. Adults aged 60 to 74 who live in long-term care facilities or who are deemed frail would also qualify, as would people who aremoderately or severely immunocompromised.

While a couple of members of the public raised concerns about the effect the new recommendation may have on vaccine uptake in people aged 60 to 74, committee members noted that the science on use of these products is evolving, and policy on their use will as well. ACIP member Matthew Daley noted after the votes that the panel perhaps should have added the words at this time to the wording of the votes, to make that point clear.

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CDC panel opts for a go-slow approach on expanding usage of RSV vaccines - STAT

Why Is Moderna Stock Trading Lower On Wednesday?

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice will meet this week to consider and recommend who should get respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza, and COVID-19 vaccines.

In the presentation slides to the U.S. agency, Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) shared safety set data, with a cut-off date of March 8, 2024, based on the median of 18.8 months of follow-up.

The data showed that vaccine efficacy fell to around 50% after 18 months on participants aged 60 years and above.

Vaccine efficacy in the infection with more than two symptoms was 50.3% and 49.9% in disease with three or more symptoms.

After a median of 3.7 months of follow-up, vaccine efficacy stood at 78.7% and 80.9%, respectively, falling to 62.5% and 61.1% after a median of 8.6 months.

Efficacy of a single dose of GSK Plcs (NYSE:GSK) Arexvy over two calendar years showed vaccine efficacy of 73.3% (W/o season covariate) and 78.6% in severe infection.

Pfizer Incs (NYSE:PFE) Abrysvo demonstrated an overall efficacy of 77.8% in the second season and 81.5% across two seasons.

Last year, GSKs Arexvy and Pfizers Abrysvo went head to head for adults over 60.

Reuters notes that GSK won two-thirds of the market, mostly due to its contracts with retail pharmacies, including CVS Health Inc (NYSE:CVS).

Last month, Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) received FDA approval for its shot, mRESVIA, to protect adults aged 60 and older.

Earlier this year, Modernas longer-term trial analysis revealed a faster decline in the effectiveness of its RSV vaccine.

Follow-up data from Phase 3 mRNA-1345 Trial ReSViNET suggests the vaccine efficacy is declining faster than RSV vaccines fromGSK and Pfizer.

Read Next: Pfizer Seeks Expanded Use Of Abrysvo As Vaccine Shows Potential In 18+ Patients.

Pfizer secured a major contract with the U.K. to supply millions of doses of its Abrysvo respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, edging out local pharmaceutical giantGSK.

This agreement includes over 3.5 million doses for older adults and more than 1.4 million doses for pregnant mothers in England and Northern Ireland over the next two years.

Price Action: MRNA shares are down 6.98% at $128.08 at the last check on Wednesday.

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Why Is Moderna Stock Trading Lower On Wednesday? - Yahoo Finance

WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to a 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated the states longstanding religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities.

The justices did not comment in leaving in place a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the contentious law. A lower court judge had earlier dismissed the lawsuit challenging the law, which drew protests at the state Capitol.

Connecticut law requires students to receive certain immunizations before enrolling in school, allowing some medical exemptions. Prior to 2021, students also could seek religious exemptions. Lawmakers ended the religious exemption over concerns that an uptick in exemption requests was coupled with a decline in vaccination rates in some schools.

The change allowed current students in K-12 who already had a religious exemption to keep it.

This is the end of the road to a challenge to Connecticuts lifesaving and fully lawful vaccine requirements," Democratic Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. We have said all along, and the courts have affirmed, the legislature acted responsibly and well within its authority to protect the health of Connecticut families and to stop the spread of preventable disease.

Brian Festa, vice president and co-founder for the group We The Patriots USA Inc., a lead plaintiff in the case, called the decision disappointing but said its not the end of the road for us in our fight to win back religious exemptions for schoolchildren.

The group which has challenged other vaccination laws, including for COVID-19 had argued along with several parents that Connecticut violated religious freedom protections by removing the exemption. The new law shows a hostility to religious believers and jeopardizes their rights to medical freedom and child rearing, they said in court papers.

Tong's office said only one part of the case remains active. It involves a single plaintiffs claim based on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). While the office said it was confident the claim will be dismissed, Festa said federal law is clear that schools are required to provide a free and appropriate education for children with disabilities who have individual education plans, even if a child claims a religious exemption to vaccinations.

We The Patriots USA also has an ongoing federal lawsuit filed on behalf of a Christian preschool and daycare that's challenging Connecticut's vaccine mandate on constitutional grounds.

It is our practice at We The Patriots USA to battle on many fronts simultaneously, and to never put all of our eggs in one basket, Festa said, calling the Supreme Court's decision on Monday one setback, but far from a total defeat.

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Supreme Court rejects challenge to Connecticut law that eliminated religious vaccination exemption - Yahoo! Voices

WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court on Monday rejected two appeals related to COVID-19 vaccines from Childrens Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit founded by independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The justices did not comment in letting stand rulings against the group from the federal appeals courts in New Orleans and Philadelphia.

In a case from Texas, the group joined parents in objecting to the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations authorization to administer coronavirus vaccines to children. In a case from New Jersey, Children's Health Defense challenged a Rutgers University requirement, imposed in 2021, for most students to be vaccinated to attend courses on campus, though the school did not force faculty or staff to be vaccinated.

Children's Health Defense has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.

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Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

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Supreme Court rejects COVID-19 vaccine appeals from nonprofit founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - Yahoo! Voices

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled against a father who was looking to stop his ex-wife from having their children vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV).

According to a B.C. Supreme Court judgment issued Monday, Victoria Draper will have the sole authority to decide whether her daughter will be vaccinated. She wanted to have her daughter to receive the vaccinebefore her 12th birthday, as recommended by B.C. health authorities.

The girl's father, Matthew Smith, sought an order to prohibit Draper from having their children vaccinated against HPV, saying in text messages to Draper that it is "unknown" whether the "protection is going to even work" and that the vaccine "causes more harm than good."

In her judgment, Justice Catherine Murray said she accepts guidance from Canadian health authorities "who are entrusted with protecting public health that it is in the best interests of the children to get the HPV vaccination."

According to the judgment posted online, Draper and Smith divorced in late 2022 and have two children together: an eight-year-old son and a daughter who will turn 12 next month.

They were notified last fall that children in their daughter's grade were set to receive the HPV vaccine. Smith refused to sign the consent form and told the school that her daughter would not be vaccinated.

He wrote to Draper that even if the chance of harm was less than oneper cent, "that's too much risk."

"There's a lot of pressure on parents to take these vaccines just like COVID, it's all about money and commissions. It isn't about health," Smith wrote.

The judgment says Smithsent Draper TikTok videos and articles to support his argument.

In his application, Smith cited lawsuits in the U.S. around the vaccine, saying it was best to "review the matter" once they have been adjudicated.

He also cited information from a researcher at the University of British Columbia.

Smith said he discussed it with his children and showed them a 20-minute video on the topic, andhis daughter told him she didn't want to get the vaccine.

Draper said her daughter told her the videos her father showed her were "very scary."

The mother said she later watched the videos and described them as inappropriate for children, making reference to death and suicide.

She said her daughter told her that Smith said "she would die if she got the vaccine."

Draper went on to say that her daughter told her that she wanted to get the vaccine and that their family doctor said there was no medical reason for her not to.

Justice Catherine Murray dismissed Smith's application, noting that his "wait and see" approach to the U.S. lawsuits was not in the children's best interests, adding that "lawsuits are not medical information."

She also said she put no weight on the "information" from the UBC researcher.

In making her decision, Draper relied on publications that "make clear that health authorities/ experts in Canada favour the HPV vaccine," according to the judgment.

Murray said she found Draper's evidence more compelling.

"I accept the advice of the health authorities in Canada who are entrusted with protecting public health that it is in the best interests of the children to get the HPV vaccination. I am further satisfied that it is in the best interests of the children to get the vaccination at the age when it is most effective, as determined by Ms. Draper."

Murray ordered that Draper "has sole decision-making authority regarding any and all decisions relating to the HPV vaccination and/or treatment."

Smith is not allowed to discuss or allow any third party to discuss the HPV vaccine or HPV generally with the children. This includes not showing them anything on social media regarding HPV or the HPV vaccine.

"I am concerned about Mr. Smith showing the children disturbing videos and telling them that the vaccine will kill them in an effort to indoctrinate them into his way of thinking," Murray wrote.

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Judge rules against dad trying to stop child's HPV vaccination - Yahoo News Canada

WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Monday turned away two Covid-related appeals brought by Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded by independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The decision by the justices not to hear the cases leaves in place lower court rulings against the group.

One case challenged the Food and Drug Administration's emergency authorization of Covid-19 vaccines in December 2020, while the other was brought against Rutgers University in New Jersey over its Covid-19 vaccine mandate.

In the FDA case, the group claimed in court papers that Covid vaccines were "ineffective and lacked proper vetting." The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Kennedy's group did not have legal standing to sue.

In the Rutgers dispute, the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the plaintiffs "have not stated any plausible claim for relief."

Kennedy himself took leave from the group in April 2023 to run for president. He failed to make inroads in the Democratic primaries and is now running as an independent.

On the campaign trail he has mostly downplayed his anti-vaccine activity, but in November he spoke at a Children's Health Defense conference.

Kennedy is listed as a lawyer on the Rutgers filing at the Supreme Court despite his leave of absence from the group.

In a separate vaccine-related case, the court also turned away a challenge to Connecticut's decision to repeal a religious exemption for school vaccinations.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

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Supreme Court rejects appeals brought by RFK Jr.-founded anti-vaccine group over Covid shots - Yahoo! Voices