Kennedy fires entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
Says 'clean sweep' will restore public confidence
by: Swapna Venugopal Raswamy
USA today
..... Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired all 17 members of a committee that advises the federal government on vaccine safety and will replace them with new members, a move that the Trump administration's critics warned would crate public distrust around the government's role in promoting public health..
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At issue is the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, which makes recommendations on the safety, efficacy, and clinical need of vaccines to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It comprises medical and public health experts who develop recommendations on the use of vaccines in the population of the United States.
..... "Today [06/09/2025] we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro-or anti-vaccine agenda," Kennedy, who has a history of controversial views of vaccines, said on June 9, [2025]
in announcing the overhaul. "The public must know that unbiased science - evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest - guides the commendations of our health agencies."
..... The decision marks a reversal from what a Republican senator said Kennedy had promised during his confirmation hearings earlier this year. [2025]
Senator Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said Kennedy had promised to maintain the advisory committee's current composition.
..... "If confirmed, he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes," Cassidy said.
..... The Biden administration appointed all 17 sitting committee members, with 12 of the taking there seats in 2024. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, those appointments would have prevented the current administration form choosing a majority of the committee until 2028.
..... "A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science, said Kennedy, adding that the new members "will prioritize public health and evidence-based medicine" and "no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas."
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The Advisory committee for Immunization Practice is scheduled to hold its next meeting June 25 to 27 [2025] at CDC headquarters in Atlanta. An HHS source familiar with the details told USA Today that the new members of the panel will attend the session.
..... Critics of the Trump administration warned that Kennedy's move was not necessary, undermines the government's role in vaccine safety and could lead to more deadly disease transmissions.
..... Dr. Paul A Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and a member of the Food and Drug Administration Vaccine and R Elated Biological Products Advisory Committee, told USA today taht Kennedy was "fixing a problem that doesn't exist."
..... Picking members for the committee generally involves a months-long vetting process by the CDC. "Now he's just going to pick people he likes,: Offit added. "Presumably people who are like-minded, and I thing that will shake confidence in this committee."
..... Dr. Bruce Scott, president of the American Medical Association, warned that Kennedy's work has undermined trust and "upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives."
..... "With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventalbe illnesses," he said.
..... As of June 5, [2205] a total of 1,168 confirmed measles cases were reported by 34 jurisdictions. The CDC also reported three deaths due to the outbreak.