RFK Jr. Comes Under Fire For Vaccine Advisory Overhaul

The dismissal of all 17 current members of a crucial vaccination advisory group by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has provoked outrage from medical organizations and specialists, alongside reservations over the reliability of the anticipated successors.

The secretary declared the action characterizing the decision to overhaul CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) as a means of focusing on the rebuilding of public confidence.

He pointed out that the Biden administration had picked all 17 individuals, with 13 of them joining in 2024, and that the Trump team would lack the capacity to nominate a majority of the group until 2028 if their terms were made to expire.

RFK Jr. expressed that restoring public trust in vaccine science would require a complete overhaul of the system. He emphasized his belief that many government health officials, researchers, and advisors had been unduly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry. According to him, the newly appointed members of the ACIP would be committed to advancing public health and practicing proof-based medicine, and he claimed the committee would cease operating in a way that merely endorsed corporate profit motives.

RFK Jr. made multiple concessions to legislators during the confirmation procedure about vaccination policy. Notably, Sen. Bill Cassidy said in a floor address that the secretary had assured the preservation of the CDC’s ACIP without modifications.

But within hours, a number of legislators, healthcare organizations, and medical professionals denounced RFK Jr.’s declaration as a violation of his pledge and a threat to the health of both children and adults.

American Medical Association (AMA) President Bruce Scott, M.D., stated that the decision to dismiss the 17 current members of the ACIP compromised public trust and disrupted a long-established, transparent process credited with saving numerous lives. He warned that, amid a continuing measles outbreak and decreasing rates of routine childhood vaccinations, this decision could contribute to a wider spread of diseases that vaccines are designed to prevent.

Dr. Paul Offit, a former ACIP member, highlighted a succession of vaccinations approved by the committee over the previous 25 years that have significantly reduced illness occurrence.

These consisted of a rotavirus vaccine that nearly wiped out the 70,000 hospitalizations due to acute dehydration from the virus, an HPV vaccination that reduced the rate of cervical cancer in the country by 60%, and a maternal respiratory syncytial virus vaccine that decreased hospital stays in infants over their first two months of life by more than half.

Offit stated that, in his view, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was attempting to solve an issue that did not actually exist. He emphasized that the ACIP had historically performed its role effectively. According to Offit, Kennedy Jr. had not provided any concrete example of a committee member being improperly swayed by the pharmaceutical industry in a way that led them to disregard scientific evidence. He characterized Kennedy’s claims as baseless speculation and conspiracy rather than fact-based critique.