WASHINGTON —In a move that has stunned public health experts and stirred fresh controversy, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has dismissed all 17 members of the nation’s top vaccine advisory committee.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) plays a crucial role in deciding which vaccines are recommended for Americans and when. Its decisions affect everything from public health strategy to what insurers are required to cover.
Kennedy, a longtime critic of certain vaccine policies, announced the sweeping clear-out in an opinion piece published Monday in The Wall Street Journal. He claimed the panel had been riddled with “persistent conflicts of interest” and accused it of acting as a “rubber stamp” for pharmaceutical companies.
“I want to ensure the American people receive the safest vaccines possible,” Kennedy wrote, arguing that trust in vaccines has been eroded not by misinformation, but by what he called “industry-aligned incentives” influencing federal health bodies.
A “Norm-Breaking” Decision
Public health officials reacted swiftly and sharply.
“I was stunned, but not surprised,” said Noel Brewer, a professor at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, who served briefly on ACIP. “It’s deeply disappointing and more than a bit upsetting.”
The dismissals affect a group of physicians, scientists and public health experts many affiliated with leading universities and hospitals who were scheduled to vote on vaccine guidance later this month.
Their removal comes amid rising concern over measles outbreaks and a decline in childhood vaccination rates across parts of the US.
“This upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives,” said Dr Bruce Scott, president of the American Medical Association. “With preventable diseases on the rise, this decision could not have come at a worse time.”
Questions Over Timing and Intent
Eight of the committee’s members had only just been appointed in January under President Biden. By removing the full panel, Kennedy ensures that any new members would be selected by the current administration potentially shaping the body’s direction for years.
“If I hadn’t acted, President Trump wouldn’t be able to appoint a majority to the panel until 2028,” Kennedy wrote.
While ACIP members are required to disclose any financial ties to vaccine makers and to recuse themselves where conflicts arise, Kennedy insists that those rules have not gone far enough.
But critics say ACIP already has some of the strictest conflict-of-interest rules of any federal health committee. Dr Paul Offit, a former member and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, described the committee as “a forum where vaccine science is rigorously debated.”
“His whole notion of radical transparency this is the opposite of that,” said Offit. “This is one man making a decision behind closed doors.”
Fears for the Future
Kennedy, who has long expressed doubts about certain vaccines, promised during his Senate confirmation hearings that he would not abolish or gut ACIP. Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana and physician by training, said Kennedy gave personal assurances that the panel would remain intact.
“Now the fear is that ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,” Cassidy wrote on X. “I’ve spoken to Secretary Kennedy, and I’ll continue to talk with him to ensure this isn’t the case.”
Public health experts say those fears are well-founded.
Peter Lurie, a former Food and Drug Administration official, warned that if new panellists hold anti-vaccine views, key shots might no longer be recommended or reimbursed by insurers.
“That could lead to even lower vaccination rates,” he said, “and a resurgence of diseases we thought we’d left in the past.”
Kennedy has yet to name replacements. According to Offit, he has personally phoned at least two people, asking them to serve. ACIP’s next meeting is scheduled for 25 June, with votes expected on vaccines for flu, Covid, meningitis and other illnesses.
Finding top experts willing to join on short notice may prove difficult. “ACIP had some of the best scientists in the world,” said Brewer. “Replacing that level of expertise quickly will be a real challenge.”
Requests for comment from the US Department of Health and Human Services and ACIP’s chair, Dr Helen Keipp Talbot, went unanswered at the time of publication.
