RFK Jr. removes all 17 members of vaccine committee for CDC
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy on Monday removed all 17 members of the expert panel that makes vaccine policy recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying they'd be replaced with "new members currently under consideration."
Why it matters: HHS portrayed the unprecedented move as "restoring public trust" in vaccines, but it's expected to introduce anti-vaccine ideology to the influential panel.
The big picture: The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices is comprised of appointees including vaccine and infectious disease experts from academic medical centers and other public health professionals. They evaluate vaccine data at public meetings and were due to meet later this month to discuss COVID-19 vaccines, among other topics.
Kennedy during his confirmation process had promised senators he would keep the panel, without committing to maintaining its current makeup.
Thirteen of panelists were appointed by the Biden administration in 2024 with terms that end in 2028.
"A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science," Kennedy said in a statement.
"ACIP new members will prioritize public health and evidence-based medicine. The committee will no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas.
The other side:"CDC just lost all credibility in this space," one of the current ACIP members, who requested anonymity in order to comment, told Axios.
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Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
RFK Jr sacks entire US vaccine committee
US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, has removed all 17 members of a committee that issues official government recommendations on immunisations. Announcing the move in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy said that conflicts of interest on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (Acip) were responsible for undermining trust in vaccinations. Kennedy said he wanted to "ensure the American people receive the safest vaccines possible." Doctors and health experts have criticised Kennedy's longstanding questioning of the safety and efficacy of a number of vaccines, although in his Senate confirmation hearing he said he is "not going to take them away." On Monday he said he was "retiring" all of the Acip panel members. Eight of the 17 panellists were appointed in January 2025, in the last days of President Biden's term. Most of the members are practicing doctors and experts attached to major university medical centres. Kennedy noted that if he did not remove the committee members, President Trump would not have been able to appoint a majority on the panel until 2028. "The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine," Kennedy wrote. He claimed that health authorities and drug companies were responsible for a "crisis of public trust" that some try to explain "by blaming misinformation or antiscience attitudes." In the editorial, Kennedy cited examples from the 1990s and 2000s and alleged that conflicts of interest persist. "Most of ACIP's members have received substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies, including those marketing vaccines," he wrote in the Wall Street Journal. The move appears contrary to assurances Kennedy gave during his confirmation hearings. Bill Cassidy, a Republican Senator from Louisiana who is also a doctor, reported that he received commitments from the health secretary that Acip would be maintained "without changes." On Monday, Cassidy wrote on X: "Of course, now the fear is that the Acip will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion. "I've just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I'll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case." Acip members are required to disclose conflicts of interest, which are posted online, and to recuse themselves from voting on decisions where they may have a conflict. "The problem isn't necessarily that ACIP members are corrupt," Kennedy wrote. "Most likely aim to serve the public interest as they understand it. "The problem is their immersion in a system of industry-aligned incentives and paradigms that enforce a narrow pro-industry orthodoxy." Dr Bruce Scott, president of the American Medical Association, a professional organisation for American doctors, said mass sacking "upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives." "With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses," Dr Scott said in a statement. Kennedy did not say who he would appoint to replace the board members. Acip has a meeting scheduled starting 25 June, at which members are scheduled to vote on recommendations for vaccines for Covid, flu, meningococcal disease, RSV and other illnesses. The BBC contacted the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Acip chair, Dr Helen Keipp Talbot, for comment. Fact-checking RFK Jr's views on health policy The two faces of Robert F Kennedy Jr
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
RFK Jr ousts entire US vaccine panel over alleged conflicts
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday announced he was dismissing all current members of a key federal vaccine advisory panel, accusing them of conflicts of interest -- his latest salvo against the nation's immunization policies. The removal of all 17 experts of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was revealed in a Wall Street Journal op-ed and an official press release. Kennedy, who has spent two decades promoting vaccine misinformation, cast the move as essential to restoring public trust, claiming the committee had been compromised by financial ties to pharmaceutical companies. "Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda," he said in a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services. "The public must know that unbiased science -- evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest — guides the recommendations of our health agencies." In his op-ed, Kennedy claimed the panel was "plagued with persistent conflicts of interest" and had become "little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine." He added that new members were being considered to replace those ousted -- all of whom were appointed under former president Joe Biden. ACIP members are chosen for their recognized expertise and are required to disclose potential conflicts of interest. "RFK Jr. and the Trump administration are taking a wrecking ball to the programs that keep Americans safe and healthy," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in response. "Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion," Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor who expressed concern about Kennedy's track record during his Senate nomination but ultimately voted in his favor, wrote on X. "I've just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I'll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case." - 'Silencing expertise' - The decision drew sharp criticism from Paul Offit, a pediatrician and leading expert on virology and immunology who served on the panel from 1998 to 2003. "He believes that anybody who speaks well of vaccines, or recommends vaccines, must be deeply in the pocket of industry," Offit told AFP. "He's fixing a problem that doesn't exist." "We are witnessing an escalating effort by the Administration to silence independent medical expertise and stoke distrust in lifesaving vaccines," added Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in a statement. Once a celebrated environmental lawyer, Kennedy pivoted from the mid-2000s to public health -- chairing a nonprofit that discouraged routine childhood immunizations and amplified false claims, including the long-debunked theory that the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism. Since taking office, he has curtailed access to Covid-19 shots and continued to raise fears around the MMR vaccine -- even as the United States faces its worst measles outbreak in years, with three reported deaths and more than 1,100 confirmed cases. Experts warn the true case count is likely far higher. "How can this country have confidence that the people RFK Jr. wants on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices are people we can trust?" Offit asked. He recalled that during US President Donald Trump's first term, several states formed independent vaccine advisory panels after the administration pressured federal health agencies to prematurely approve Covid-19 vaccines ahead of the 2020 election. That kind of fragmentation, Offit warned, could happen again. ACIP is scheduled to hold its next meeting at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta from June 25 to June 27. Vaccines for anthrax, Covid-19, human papillomavirus, influenza, Lyme disease, respiratory syncytial virus, and more are on the agenda. ia/jgc
Forbes
41 minutes ago
- Forbes
Secretary Of HHS Kennedy Fires Entire CDC's Vaccine Advisory Committee
Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is making good on his promise to radically reshape the vaccine policy landscape as he ousts the entire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. In a press release issued by the Department of HHS on June 9th, Kennedy says he's doing this in order to restore the public's trust in vaccine science in America. It's unknown who Kennedy will hire to replace committee members, but it's possible they may share his skeptical views of vaccines. In turn, this could have the effect of increasing the public's vaccine hesitancy. ACIP advises the director of the CDC on which vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration should be used; for example, recommending which groups of people ought to be vaccinated, at what doses and when. ACIP's guidance is not binding, though CDC almost always follows it and provides recommendations to the public on what is to be included in the United States adult and childhood immunization schedules. Neither the Secretary of HHS nor the CDC director can unilaterally ban vaccines. But they can alter the CDC's messaging, fire and hire ACIP committee members and revise vaccination scheduling. Moreover, the Secretary of HHS together with heads of agencies under his oversight can pursue changes in guidance that restructure regulatory pathways for vaccine development and revise recommendations to the public on who should get vaccinated. In a major policy shift last month, Food and Drug Administration officials proposed requiring new clinical trial research with respect to the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in healthy people under 65, including pregnant women, before issuing an updated approval for a broader population. And we observed a preview of the new FDA approach when the agency made an unusual decision in May to limit the approval of the nation's only non-mRNA coronavirus vaccine, Novavax's nuvaxovid, for use only in adults 65 and older or those 12 to 64 who have at least one health problem that puts them at increased risk from COVID-19. And on May 31st, Moderna won approval for its latest COVID-19 vaccine with a similar set of limits. To be indicated for a broader population, the FDA plans to require that vaccine makers conduct booster trials to demonstrate effectiveness in people under 65 or without certain risks. These trials could take a year to complete, according to a STAT report. As such, it's not something that can be accomplished prior to the autumn, even if Novavax, Pfizer, or Moderna, wished to pursue this pathway. Changes are also occurring at CDC in terms of its messaging on vaccines. While all the standard childhood and adult vaccines are still on the website, the messaging in some instances incorporates more of an 'informed consent' approach than a recommendation. Informed consent is the principle that people should be notified of all the risks, as well as benefits, of any medical intervention they receive or any therapeutic they are prescribed. All of the changes we're seeing shouldn't come as a surprise. Kennedy's vaccine-skeptic views are well-known. And while he told the podcaster Lex Fridman in 2023 that some vaccines 'are probably averting more problems than they're causing,' he also maintained that 'there's no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective.' In March, he commissioned a large-scale study to investigate debunked theories that link autism to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. And, amid an outbreak of measles this year that started in Texas and spread to surrounding states and cost the lives of three people, Kennedy appeared at times to downplay its severity. Kennedy has also been outspoken about the existing organizational framework within his department, in which he says that with respect to vaccines there are conflicts of interest. In announcing today's purge of the entire ACIP committee, Kennedy cited the pharmaceutical industry's close relationship with government agencies and ACIP that advises them. But it's unclear what Kennedy means when current ACIP members include academics, a chief medical officer of a community health center, a state public health higher-up and the owner of a family medicine practice. Kennedy defends himself as merely wanting placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure and no more strict vaccine mandates. However, the vaccines he criticizes are typically subject to such clinical trials. Furthermore, arguably the mandates Kennedy opposes, which have been in place since the 1960s, have helped to contribute to a dramatic decline in childhood infectious diseases. From smallpox inoculations—which began in the late 18th century and ended when the disease was eradicated in the 1970s—to mumps, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, polio and measles immunizations, vaccinations have saved millions of lives and prevented crippling and life-threatening illnesses from occurring. To illustrate, mass vaccination programs with single or combination—measles, mumps and rubella—shots began in the 1960s and quickly suppressed the spread of measles in most developed countries. The measles vaccine is 'sterilizing,' which means it not only prevents illness, but also transmission. The American public is already increasingly vaccine-hesitant around standard childhood immunizations. This is likely to lead to more outbreaks and preventable severe illness and death. Should Kennedy appoint like-minded vaccine skeptics to the ACIP committee, that could undermine the public's trust in vaccines even further.
