RFK Jr. ousts CDC's entire vaccine advisory committee

The Associated Press

· Posted: Jun 09, 2025 10:33 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. connected Monday removed each subordinate of a technological committee that advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) connected however to usage vaccines and pledged to regenerate them with his ain picks.

Major physicians and nationalist wellness groups criticized the determination to oust each 17 members of the Advisory Committee connected Immunization Practices (ACIP).

Kennedy has not said who helium would name to the panel, but said it would convene successful conscionable 2 weeks successful Atlanta.

Although it's typically not viewed arsenic a partisan board, the full existent roster of committee members were appointees of U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.

"Without removing the existent members, the existent Trump medication would not person been capable to name a bulk of caller members until 2028," Kennedy wrote successful a Wall Street Journal sentiment piece. "A cleanable expanse is needed to re-establish nationalist assurance successful vaccine science."

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When reached by phone, the panel's now-former seat — Dr. Helen Keipp Talbot of Vanderbilt University — declined to comment. But different sheet member, Noel Brewer astatine the University of North Carolina, said helium and different committee members received an email precocious Monday day that said their services connected the committee had been terminated but gave nary reason.

"I'd assumed I'd proceed serving connected the committee for my afloat term," said Brewer, who joined the sheet past summer.

Brewer is simply a behavioural idiosyncratic whose probe examines wherefore radical get vaccinated and ways to amended vaccination coverage. Whether radical get vaccinated is mostly influenced by what their doctors recommend, and doctors person been pursuing ACIP guidance.

"Up until today, ACIP recommendations were the golden modular for what insurers should wage for, what providers should recommend, and what the nationalist should look to," helium said.

Committee not consulted 

But Kennedy already took the antithetic measurement of changing COVID-19 recommendations without archetypal consulting the committee — a determination criticized by doctors' groups and nationalist wellness advocates.

"It's unclear what the aboriginal holds," Brewer said. "Certainly supplier organizations person already started to crook distant from ACIP."

Kennedy said the committee members had excessively galore conflicts of interest. Currently, committee members are required to state immoderate imaginable specified conflicts, arsenic good arsenic concern interests, that originate during their tenure. They besides indispensable disclose immoderate imaginable conflicts astatine the commencement of each nationalist meeting.

But Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives and erstwhile manager of the CDC, said Kennedy's actions were based connected mendacious conflict-of-interest claims and acceptable "a unsafe and unprecedented enactment that makes our families little safe" by perchance reducing vaccine entree for millions of people.

"Make nary mistake: Politicizing the ACIP arsenic Secretary Kennedy is doing volition undermine nationalist spot nether the guise of improving it," helium said successful a statement. "We'll look backmost astatine this arsenic a sedate mistake that sacrificed decades of technological rigour, undermined nationalist trust, and opened the doorway for fringe theories alternatively than facts."

'Not however democracies work'

Dr. Georges Benjamin, enforcement manager of the American Public Health Association, called Kennedy's wide ouster "a coup."

"It's not however democracies work. It's not bully for the wellness of the nation," helium said.

Benjamin said the determination raises existent concerns astir whether aboriginal committee members volition beryllium viewed arsenic impartial. He added that Kennedy is going against what helium told lawmakers and the public, and the nationalist wellness relation plans to ticker Kennedy "like a hawk."

"He is breaking a promise," Benjamin said. "He said helium wasn't going to bash this."

Dr. Bruce A. Scott, president of the American Medical Association, called the committee a trusted root of science- and data-driven proposal and said Kennedy's move, coupled with declining vaccination rates crossed the country, volition assistance thrust an summation successful vaccine-preventable diseases.

"Today's action… undermines that spot and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives," Scott said successful a statement.

The committee had been successful a authorities of flux since Kennedy took over. Its archetypal gathering this twelvemonth had been delayed erstwhile the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services abruptly postponed its February meeting.

During Kennedy's confirmation, Cassidy had expressed concerns astir preserving the committee, saying helium had sought assurances that Kennedy would support the panel's existent vaccine recommendations.

The webpage that featured the committee's members was deleted Monday evening, soon aft Kennedy's announcement.