BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID
RFK Jr ousts entire US vaccine panel over alleged conflicts
By AFP
June 9, 2025
US President Donald Trump speaks as US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (C), and US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon look on during a MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Commission Event - Copyright AFP RINGO CHIU
Issam AHMED
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday announced he was dismissing all current members of a key federal vaccine advisory panel, accusing them of conflicts of interest — his latest salvo against the nation’s immunization policies.
The removal of all 17 experts of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was revealed in a Wall Street Journal op-ed and an official press release.
Kennedy, who has spent two decades promoting vaccine misinformation, cast the move as essential to restoring public trust, claiming the committee had been compromised by financial ties to pharmaceutical companies.
“Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,” he said in a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services.
“The public must know that unbiased science — evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest — guides the recommendations of our health agencies.”
In his op-ed, Kennedy claimed the panel was “plagued with persistent conflicts of interest” and had become “little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine.”
He added that new members were being considered to replace those ousted — all of whom were appointed under former president Joe Biden.
ACIP members are chosen for their recognized expertise and are required to disclose potential conflicts of interest.
“RFK Jr. and the Trump administration are taking a wrecking ball to the programs that keep Americans safe and healthy,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in response.
“Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,” Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor who expressed concern about Kennedy’s track record during his Senate nomination but ultimately voted in his favor, wrote on X.
“I’ve just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I’ll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.”
– ‘Silencing expertise’ –
The decision drew sharp criticism from Paul Offit, a pediatrician and leading expert on virology and immunology who served on the panel from 1998 to 2003.
“He believes that anybody who speaks well of vaccines, or recommends vaccines, must be deeply in the pocket of industry,” Offit told AFP. “He’s fixing a problem that doesn’t exist.”
“We are witnessing an escalating effort by the Administration to silence independent medical expertise and stoke distrust in lifesaving vaccines,” added Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in a statement.
Once a celebrated environmental lawyer, Kennedy pivoted from the mid-2000s to public health — chairing a nonprofit that discouraged routine childhood immunizations and amplified false claims, including the long-debunked theory that the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism.
Since taking office, he has curtailed access to Covid-19 shots and continued to raise fears around the MMR vaccine — even as the United States faces its worst measles outbreak in years, with three reported deaths and more than 1,100 confirmed cases.
Experts warn the true case count is likely far higher.
“How can this country have confidence that the people RFK Jr. wants on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices are people we can trust?” Offit asked.
He recalled that during US President Donald Trump’s first term, several states formed independent vaccine advisory panels after the administration pressured federal health agencies to prematurely approve Covid-19 vaccines ahead of the 2020 election.
That kind of fragmentation, Offit warned, could happen again.
ACIP is scheduled to hold its next meeting at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta from June 25 to June 27.
Vaccines for anthrax, Covid-19, human papillomavirus, influenza, Lyme disease, respiratory syncytial virus, and more are on the agenda
RFK Jr.’s dismissal of CDC vaccine advisory panel: Medical experts weigh in
By Dr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
June 10, 2025
Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic said last week that it was ready to supply up to 10 million doses of its vaccine targeting mpox by the end of 2025 - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP Ian Willms
Science and medicine have taken a backward step in the U.S. following Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Monday dismissing all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s independent vaccine advisory committee, saying a “clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.”
The danger is that Kennedy’s changes could “significantly alter — or even drop — the recommendations” for childhood vaccines and other immunizations.
“Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,” Kennedy, who has a history of controversial views on vaccines, said on June 9 in announcing the overhaul. “The public must know that unbiased science – evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest – guides the recommendations of our health agencies.”
In response, University of Michigan experts have weighed in on the decision by Kennedy to remove all members of the CDC’s 61-year-old Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Loss of independence
Abram Wagner, assistant professor of epidemiology and global public health at the School of Public Health, investigates vaccination programs is concerned about the loss of independence:
“For decades, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has served as an independent, evidence-based body guiding U.S. vaccine policy to protect children, the elderly and people with serious chronic diseases,” he said. “Vaccines have historically transcended political divisions because of their cost-effectiveness and lifesaving impact. Undermining ACIP not only politicizes public health but also erodes the institutional expertise that has safeguarded generations of Americans.”
Emily Martin, associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, co-directs the Michigan Center for Respiratory Virus Research and Response and the Michigan Public Health Integrated Center for Outbreak Analytics and Modeling thinks that finding suitable replacements will be challenging:
“Secretary Kennedy’s comments greatly underestimate the amount of skill, training and highly specialized knowledge in vaccinology and epidemiology that is required to be a member of ACIP,” she said. “The members of the disbanded committee were among the top experts in the field and brought decades of experience in caring for children, young adults, older adults, patients with cancer and pregnancies, among much else.”
Martin implored action from Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who chairs the committee that oversees HHS and who voted to confirm Kennedy as secretary based on the promise that ACIP would be left intact and access to vaccines protected.
“(Cassidy) more than anyone should recognize the enormous challenge in reinstating this committee with new experts that are as qualified, and the damage to the nation’s public health that will result from the disruption to their work,” she said. “To do this now, when we are facing measles outbreaks at a level not seen in decades, is extremely concerning.
Factually incorrect
Martin is also concerned with the scientific accuracy (or inaccuracy) of Kennedy’s pronouncement: “The statements surrounding the HHS decision to remove the ACIP committee meetings contain a number of things that are factually incorrect. The meetings are posted online and anyone can listen to the discussions, held livestreamed in public view, where members openly debate all aspects of these vaccines. The care and rigor of these discussions and the reliance on scientific evidence is what has made the ACIP such a respected advisory body internationally. I am disheartened to see the work of the thousands of scientists that contribute to the evidence behind the recommendations disparaged in this way.”
Confusion ahead
Adam Lauring is professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Medical School. Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, he is concerned about public mistrust and confusion:
“This move is something that will undoubtedly cause confusion and will ultimately be detrimental to public health,” he said. “The individuals who have served on ACIP are true experts in their field. They volunteer many hours to exhaustively review the available data and debate their recommendations.
“Contrary to Secretary Kennedy’s statements, rigorous conflict of interest rules have been applied to members. Physicians, pharmacists and other providers depend on the ACIP and its integrity for recommendations about how to best care for their patients. As insurers rely on ACIP recommendations to decide which vaccines will be covered, I am concerned that these changes may reduce access to vaccines across the board.”
OPPOSITION TO KENNEDY HHS PURGE
SHEA affirms trust in ACIP and supports science-based vaccine policy
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology (SHEA) appreciates HHS’s focus on restoring public trust in vaccines and applaud any and all efforts to increase vaccine uptake in the United States to protect public health.
However, we do not believe recent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) members were conflicted; rather, we have consistently observed through both our role as an advisory member of ACIP and as a professional medical society, that the committee’s recommendations were rooted in rigorous, evidence-based deliberations.
SHEA has confidence in the integrity of ACIP’s conflict of interest policies and processes, which are designed to ensure transparency and uphold public trust in its decision-making.
The ACIP has long served as a trusted body guiding national immunization policy. We are proud to have worked alongside them in advancing public health and encouraging a transparent and deliberative process of vaccination recommendations.
We are deeply concerned that efforts to restructure or replace ACIP risk undermining a trusted, science-driven process that has long guided national immunization policy.
We urge HHS to prioritize transparency, scientific rigor, and public health expertise as it considers these changes—and we remain committed to defending a strong, evidence-based immunization framework in the United States.
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