Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s latest step to change the way the U.S. deals with vaccinations was revealed this week. He said this Monday that a “clean sweep” is expected for the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.
This committee advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the use of vaccines, including childhood vaccination schedules. Kennedy is known for his vaccine skepticism and he ordered new placebo testing for all new vaccines in the U.S. earlier this year, though experts were concerned that the move would not help improve vaccine safety or efficacy.
Experts are also concerned about the new move concerning the ACIP. KYW Newsradio reported that CBS News medical contributor Dr. Celine Gounder explained some of these fresh concerns.
“The secretary is also planning to censor what data is presented at these meetings, and so this entire process is being injected with ideology in a way that will compromise trust in public health,” she said.
According to a Monday press release from the HHS department, all 17 sitting members of the ACIP committee were removed and will be replaced “with new members currently under consideration.” It said that 13 of those members were appointed last year and that all were appointed while former President Joe Biden was in office.
Last February, former Louisiana State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter spoke with Audacy about his concerns regarding the ACIP. At the time, the committee had eight vacancies, including one that had been open for around a year.
“I really don’t know why,” said Kanter at the time. “From what I understand – what I’ve heard – the CDC has forwarded quite some time ago, [they’ve] nominated individuals to the larger department, to federal, HHS and HHS just hasn’t moved on it.”
If the current administration of President Donald Trump had kept the 17 appointees, it would not have been able to select a majority of the committee until 2028, near the end of the president’s second term.
“The prior administration made a concerted effort to lock in public health ideology and limit the incoming administration’s ability to take the proper actions to restore public trust in vaccines,” the HHS said in its press release.
While Kennedy has been vocal about his skepticism regarding vaccines in the past, he said that he and the HHS “are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,” with the ACIP changes.
“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,” he said. Kennedy also said a “clean sweep” is needed to “reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.”
Kaiser Family Foundation polling data revealed last month found that most adults say they are at least “somewhat confident” in the safety of many routine vaccines. These included those for measles (83%), the flu (74%). However, the public “remains less confident in the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine,” and there is more partisan disagreement regarding that vaccine.
This March, Dr. Peter Marks, the former director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), said that he made the decision with a “heavy heart” and that his final day would be April 5. In a letter, he cited concerns about vaccines amid a measles outbreaks in the U.S.
“Efforts currently being advanced by some on the adverse health effects of vaccination are concerning,” he said. “The history of the potential individual and societal benefits of vaccination is as old as our great nation.”
Regarding the recent ACIP shakeup, Dr. Bruce A. Scott, president, American Medical Association said in a statement that the “action to remove the 17 sitting members of ACIP undermines that trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives.” He also expressed concern about the ongoing measles outbreak and further spread of “vaccine-preventable illnesses.”
According to the HHS, the ACIP will reconvene with its new members June 25 through June 27 at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Ga.
“ACIP's new members will prioritize public health and evidence-based medicine. The Committee will no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas,” said Kennedy. “The entire world once looked to American health regulators for guidance, inspiration, scientific impartiality, and unimpeachable integrity. Public trust has eroded. Only through radical transparency and gold standard science, will we earn it back.”