A panel of scientific experts that advises the Food and Drug Administration on vaccine policy learned on Wednesday that its upcoming meeting to discuss next year’s flu vaccines has been canceled. The F.D.A. sent an email to members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on Monday afternoon informing them of the cancellation, according to a senior official familiar with the decision. There was no reason given. The panel was to meet March 13. One committee member, Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, an outspoken critic of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., confirmed the cancellation and warned that it could interfere with or delay production of flu vaccines. “It’s a six-month production cycle,” Dr. Offit said. “So one can only assume that we’re not picking flu strains this year.” The cancellation, and the postponement last week of a similar meeting of scientific advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, plays into fears among scientists who worry that Mr. Kennedy will use his perch to sow doubts about vaccines and interfere with the regulatory process that leads to their approval.
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