U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The ACIP is a body that plays a crucial role in providing scientific recommendations on which vaccines should be used and which population groups they should target, based on scientific evidence and epidemiological data.
Kennedy justified the decision with the need to rebuild public trust, accusing the group of having conflicts of interest with pharmaceutical industries, although he provided no concrete evidence. ACIP members are appointed for a four-year term and come from a variety of disciplines: physicians, epidemiologists, public health experts and other health professionals. Their job is to ensure that vaccine policies are based on sound scientific evidence, helping to protect public health and prevent communicable diseases, such as COVID-19, measles and avian flu.
The decision drew strong criticism from experts, doctors, senators from both parties and health associations, who saw it as a dangerous political act capable of weakening public trust in vaccines and damaging collective health. The committee was composed of independent experts, appointed largely during the Biden administration.
Kennedy, known for his skeptical views on vaccines, has already reduced official recommendations regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Critics fear that the new committee will be filled with people without adequate scientific expertise and closer to his vision. Indeed, Kennedy himself has no medical qualifications whatsoever. The next ACIP meeting is scheduled for late June, but it is unclear whether the new members will be ready in time.
As Politico reports, Dr. Paul Offit, a former ACIP member and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, recalled that over time, the panel’s recommendations have led to significant results, such as the near disappearance of childhood hospitalizations for diseases caused by rotavirus and respiratory syncytial virus. “Can we trust an ACIP composed of people RFK Jr. considers adequate to make decisions?” said Offit, now a member of the FDA’s external vaccine panel. “The end result of all this will be chaos and distrust.” New York state and other states have filed a lawsuit against RFK Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services, challenging the department’s dismantling and layoffs as violations of the Constitution and federal laws.
