Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a well-known vaccine conspiracy theorist and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, has dismissed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This decision was announced on June 9th and has raised concerns among experts about the potential paralysis of the committee’s functions and the erosion of public trust.
In a column published in the Wall Street Journal, Secretary Kennedy stated that a “cleanup” was needed to restore public faith in vaccine science, which involved replacing the entire vaccine advisory committee. The fired ACIP members were private-sector experts in healthcare and administration who provided recommendations on vaccine safety to the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services. They reviewed vaccine data to advise on eligibility for vaccination and insurance coverage.
Kennedy questioned the credibility of the advisory committee, accusing it of becoming a “rubber-stamp body” due to ongoing conflicts of interest and failing to oppose vaccines that were later withdrawn over safety concerns.
Experts are worried about the decline in trust towards U.S. health institutions. Jesse Goodman, a former chief scientist at the FDA, called the dismissals a “tragedy” and criticized them as a political intervention that would detract from the confidence in and trustworthiness of a committee constituted by scientists and medical professionals.
Since assuming his position, Kennedy has been implementing various policy changes that challenge the status of vaccines. He has long opposed mRNA-based vaccines, criticizing the COVID-19 vaccines developed using this technology as “the most deadly vaccines in history.” Regarding avian influenza, he proposed that, instead of culling infected chickens, research should be conducted to identify those that survive the virus and discover the source of their immunity.