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RFK Jr. faces blowback from senators, former vaccine committee members after firings
Recently fired members of a committee that advises the federal government on immunization safety lashed out at Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., saying that their terminations will limit access to vaccines and put American lives at risk.
Kennedy last week abruptly dismissed all members of the committee, which advises the Centers for Diseases Control on vaccine safety. Two days after he dissolved the committee on June 9, Kennedy named eight new members to the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, including some who have advocated against vaccines.
"We are deeply concerned that these destabilizing decisions, made without clear rationale, may roll back the achievements of U.S. immunization policy, impact people's access to lifesaving vaccines, and ultimately put U.S. families at risk of dangerous and preventable illnesses,' the 17 former members wrote in an article published in medical journal JAMA on June 16.
The ACIP charter specifies that committee members serve overlapping terms to ensure continuity - and dismissing all the members at the same time 'have stripped the program of the institutional knowledge and continuity that have been essential to its success over decades,' wrote the members, whose committee recommendations also affect insurance coverage and safeguard broad access for vaccines.
In announcing his decision to oust the members, Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, claimed a 'clean sweep' was necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.
The committee would 'no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas,' he said.
That was the opposite of what Kennedy told Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, during his confirmation hearing to become Trump's cabinet member.
"If confirmed, he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes," Cassidy said during the hearing.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions called for an immediate bipartisan investigation into the terminations.
'For decades, Secretary Kennedy has spread lies and dangerous conspiracy theories about safe and effective vaccines that have saved millions of lives,' Sanders wrote in a letter to Cassidy. 'Unfortunately, since he has been confirmed I am very concerned that Secretary Kennedy is doubling down on his war on science and disinformation campaign that will lead to preventable illness and death.'
Additionally, 22 senators, including Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, wrote a joint letter to Kennedy saying they are 'troubled' by the appointment of several members to the committee who have a 'documented history of anti-vaccine ideology and peddling misinformation.'
Dr. Robert Malone, one of the new Kenendy appointees is a virologist and vaccine skeptic who became well-known during the COVID-19 pandemic for spreading misinformation about the virus on conservative shows and podcasts. The physician-scientist and biochemist has falsely claimed spike proteins from COVID-19 mRNA vaccines often cause permanent damage to children's vital organs.
Firing every member of the committee ahead of their next meeting scheduled for June 25-27 'eliminates the advisory board's ability to debate and make well-informed recommendations, putting American lives at risk,' the senators wrote.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr. faces blowback after vaccine committee firings
