RFK Jr Fires CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee

US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) RFK Jr has removed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), claiming that it was “plagued with conflicts of interest.” The committee’s activities would typically include reviewing vaccine data and making recommendations about who should be eligible for vaccines, as well as what insurers should cover.

A statement from HHS said: “A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science. ACIP's 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 entire world once looked to American health regulators for guidance, inspiration, scientific impartiality, and unimpeachable integrity. Public trust has eroded. Only through radical transparency and gold standard science, will we earn it back.”

Before being confirmed as the HHS Secretary, RFK Jr had promised to maintain the CDC and the ACIP without changes. Despite the HHS statement assuring that the new AICIP members will follow “unbiased science,” experts in the science and healthcare community seem concerned, with many calling out RFK Jr’s history of vaccine scepticism. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy wrote on the social media platform 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.”

Here’s a roundup of other reactions from across the US.

• Bruce A Scott, President of the American Medical Association (AMA): “For generations, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been a trusted national source of science-and data-driven advice and guidance on the use of vaccines to prevent and control disease...Today’s action to remove the 17 sitting members of ACIP undermines that trust and 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.”
• Tina Tan, President of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA): “Unilaterally removing an entire panel of experts is reckless, shortsighted and severely harmful.”
• Georges C Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association (APHA): “Removing all ACIP members at once is not how democracies work and it’s not good for the health of the nation. RFK says he wants to restore trust and transparency. This action immediately raises concern over the ability of any slate of committee members appointed by the Trump administration to be viewed as impartial to RFK's views on any decision, and therefore their actions will be suspect and likely mistrusted.”
• Jason M Goldman, President of the American College of Physicians: “This announcement, coupled with the recent, preemptive actions HHS took on the COVID-19 vaccines that circumvented the standard, transparent vaccine review process, interferes with the practice of evidence-based medicine and destabilizes a trusted source and its evidence-based process for helping guide decision-making for vaccines to protect the public health in our country.”
• Jerome Anderson, former US Surgeon General: “While concerns about conflicts of interest deserve attention, ACIP members are already subject to strict disclosure requirements, and their expertise is critical to informed decision-making. I urge Secretary Kennedy to ensure that any new appointees are qualified scientists committed to public health and to prioritize collaboration with the scientific community to strengthen, not dismantle, this vital process.”

New members will be selected by RFK Jr. According to the HHS statement, the next meeting will be convened June 25-27.

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