On February 26, 2025, members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee were notified that the annual meeting to prepare for the upcoming flu season was canceled. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) holds the meeting annually to hear recommendations on which strains to include in the next season’s flu vaccine. Since the flu virus strains are constantly evolving and the vaccine must be regularly updated to provide the best protection, convening the committee in spring allows manufacturers adequate time to produce the vaccines.
Public health experts expressed concern at the meeting's cancellation. Lawrence Gostin, the director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, said there is a “clearly emerging pattern to undermine, even eliminate, scientific advisory committees at [the Department of Health and Human Services].”