Recasts with COVID vaccine discussion, paragraphs 1-5, adds analyst comment in paragraphs 7 and 11

By Mariam Sunny and Sneha S K

April 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's outside panel of vaccine experts on Tuesday discussed narrowing recommendations on the use of COVID-19 booster shots for the upcoming immunization campaign in its first meeting under the new Trump administration.

The panel raised the idea of recommending the updated vaccine only for vulnerable populations at risk of severe COVID-19 for the 2025-2026 season. While most panel members were not opposed, they voiced concerns around the difficulties of implementing the approach.

Denise Jamieson, one of the panel members, said the U.S. has a history of not being able to implement such variable recommendations and that COVID is still a leading cause of death among both adults and children.

"Even though I'm very much in favor of considering a risk-based approach, I am concerned about the feasibility of it and the message it might be sending," said Jamie Loehr, another panelist.

A majority of the CDC's working group favored the risk-based approach compared to the current near universal recommendation. The panel is set to vote on formal recommendations in its June meeting.

The agency currently recommends that individuals aged six months and older should be given an updated COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of previous inoculations for the disease.

A potential risk-based recommendation would eat into the already dwindling COVID vaccine sales for drugmakers, such as Pfizer PFE.N and Moderna MRNA.O, Citi analysts said in a research note.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will vote on Wednesday on recommendations for use of three vaccines also discussed during the two-day meeting, shots for respiratory syncytial virus, chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease, and meningococcal vaccines.

The panel also plans to discuss the ongoing U.S. measles outbreak that has infected over 700 people this year, mostly among unvaccinated residents in Texas and New Mexico.

The meeting was abruptly delayed in February just days after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-time vaccine skeptic, became head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CDC, which is part of HHS, said the meeting had been postponed to allow for public comment.

"Today's long-delayed ACIP meeting harks what we think are early indications of a more relaxed CDC under (Kennedy's) purview of the HHS," Citi analysts said.

The CDC director typically signs off on the panel's recommendations before they are implemented, but the agency does not currently have one.

President Donald Trump nominated Susan Monarez to lead the CDC after withdrawing the nomination of former Republican congressman and vaccine critic Dave Weldon, but she has yet to be confirmed by the Senate.

An HHS spokesperson said CDC Chief of Staff Matthew Buzzelli would weigh in instead on the recommendations.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra, Mariam Sunny and Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)

((Manas.Mishra@thomsonreuters.com; www.twitter.com/Manaswrites15;))