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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The public must know that unbiased science — evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest \u2014 guides the recommendations of our health agencies.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that new members were being considered to replace those ousted — all of whom were appointed under former president Joe Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ACIP members are chosen for their recognized expertise and are required to disclose potential conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I’ll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Experts warn the true case count is likely far higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That kind of fragmentation, Offit warned, could happen again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vaccines for anthrax, Covid-19, human papillomavirus, influenza, Lyme disease, respiratory syncytial virus, and more are on the agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a9 Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US Health Secretary Robert F. 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