offitt: thank you.: thank you, amna. ♪ geoff: the fda has canceled a critical meeting of flu vaccine experts, making this the second vaccine policy meeting to be canceled since robert f. kennedy jr. took over as secretary of health and human services. the annual gathering is key. federal health officials must decide in advance which strains to target in the next vaccine since production takes months. it comes amid one of the worst flu seasons in 15 years, with more than 19,000 deaths according to the cdc, nearly 100 of them children. we're joined by dr. paul offitt, one of the fda committee advisors and director of the vaccine education center at children's hospital of philadelphia. it is good to see you. so why was this meeting in particular so critical, and why did the fda cancel it? what justification did they give? dr. offitt: it is critical because it takes about six months to make this vaccine. so every march we meet with representatives from the world health organization, department of defense an

offitt: i am worried.ee which also had a meeting canceled, and you worry if you look at project 2025 and the way they comment on the cdc, they think the cdc should no longer be a recommending body about vaccines, eliminate expertise. just let the doctors and patients figure it out on their own. they do not need expertise. i just fear that we are slowly tearing apart the public-health process that has served us well. we lived 30 years longer than we did 100 years ago primarily because of vaccines. i think vaccines have become to some a dirty word. geoff: amid all this confusion we learn the fda and cdc are participating in a meeting this week about flu plans for next year with the world health organization after president trump took the u.s. out of the w.h.o. so what does that suggest to you? dr. offitt: you would think if nothing else the covid pandemic would have taught us that it is an international community in terms of the way viruses move and affect people. what happened in wuhan, china in 2019 clearl