NCL submits letter to CDC urging them to make flu and COVID vaccines available at same time

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June 25, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

WASHINGTON, DC – Last week, NCL submitted comments to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in response to their request for public comments in advance of the ACIP meeting being held June 26 – 28, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. During this meeting, ACIP will be discussing several vaccines, including but not limited to COVID-19, flu and RSV vaccines. The committee will also be voting on recommendations many of the vaccines discussed, including COVID, flu and RSV for adults.

In the comments, NCL urges that the Committee do all in its power to ensure that both flu and COVID vaccines are made available at the same time, thus allowing patients to receive both vaccinations at the same appointment. NCL also asks that ACIP review the current recommendations for the RSV vaccine, specifically the shared clinical decision-making requirement. To read NCL’s comments in full, click here.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which is composed of fifteen medical and public health experts and is charged with advising the CDC Director on the use of vaccines and the adult and childhood immunization schedules. ACIP meets regularly to review data, studies and proposals for vaccines, and as needed for emergency cases. Meetings are open to the public, and since COVID they have been streamed online. The June 26 – 28 meeting will be streamed online, via YouTube and is available to watch here.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

NCL applauds FDA for its latest decision to approve an updated COVID-19 vaccine

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September 11, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – The NCL applauds the FDA’s announcement approving the latest COVID vaccine, which will be available to many Americans immediately or very soon to patients who are eligible.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 9,000 COVID-19 hospital admissions in the week ending July 29, a 12.5-percent increase from the week before. While that’s far below the nearly 45,000 admissions recorded the same week a year ago, the new vaccine is nevertheless is welcome and much needed to keep COVID and its new variants in check. The percentage of emergency department patients diagnosed with COVID-19 has risen gradually in July.

Consumers should never ingest or inject disinfectants!

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By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

The President of the United States speculated at a press conference this past week that since disinfectants kills germs on surfaces, perhaps someone should look into whether humans should ingest or even inject disinfectants.

“I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute,” Trump said during Thursday’s coronavirus press briefing. “And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”

Under no circumstances should any of these cleaning products be ingested! THEY ARE POISONOUS!

Sadly, some consumers considered seriously Trump’s suggestion. Poison centers in New York and Illinois reported a doubling of calls after Trump’s statements.

Consumer and product safety groups like NCL have worked for years with makers of disinfectants and bleaches with brand names like Lysol, Chlorox, and Fantastic to prevent accidental ingestion of these products. Children used to die in large numbers from ingesting cleaning products, but they can harm or kill adults too.

To its credit, Proctor & Gamble, makers of Clorox, issued this statement after Trump’s remarks: “Bleach and other disinfectants are not suitable for consumption or injection under any circumstance.”

Makers of Lysol issued this statement: “As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).”

Consumer organizations were behind passage of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970, which provides child-resistant packaging to protect kids from getting into products under the sink. Since the PPPA’s implementation, deaths in children aged five and under went down by 1.4 per million.

With COVID-19 overtaking this country, resulting in more than 53,000 deaths in the United States alone to date—and growing daily—we need accurate and honest information from our leaders. We do not want consumers exposing themselves to hazards from ingesting cleaning products.

Consumers: do not ingest or inject household cleaning products. THEY ARE POISONOUS if consumed. A network of poison control centers exist around the nation. Visit https://aapcc.org to get your questions answered 24 hours a day. They are the experts!