RFK Jr. bring on eight members on vaccine panel
"All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense," wrote Kennedy in a post on X on June 11. "They have each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations."
The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices makes recommendations on the safety, efficacy and clinical need of vaccines to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It comprises medical and public health experts who develop recommendations on the use of vaccines in the civilian population of the United States.
"The committee will review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule as well," noted Kennedy, who has a history of controversial views on vaccines.
Dr. Paul A. Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, previously told USA TODAY that Kennedy was "fixing a problem that doesn't exist," by overhauling the committee.
Picking members for the committee generally involves a three- to four-month vetting process by the CDC. Offit said he would "presumably pick people who are like-minded, and I think that will shake confidence in this committee."
The list of appointees includes:
Dr. Joseph R. Hibbeln, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist with a career in clinical research, public health policy, and federal service;
Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist formerly at Harvard Medical School and a leading expert in vaccine safety and infectious disease surveillance;
Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management who specializes in healthcare analytics;
Dr. Robert W. Malone, a physician-scientist and biochemist who claims to be the inventor of mRNA vaccine technology and has said spike proteins from COVID-19 mRNA vaccines often causepermanent damage to children's vital organs;
Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth;
Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician;
Vicky Pebsworth, who holds a doctorate in public health and nursing from the University of Michigan and
Michael A. Ross, a clinical professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University.
and will replace them with new members, a move that the Trump administration's critics warned would create public distrust around the government's role in promoting public health.
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