HHS removed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices on June 9 and is evaluating candidates for their replacement.
Members of the committee, which provides vaccine guidance to the CDC, serve up to four years. Thirteen of the members were appointed in 2024, according to the agency.
HHS said the decision to reconstitute the committee stems from an erosion in public trust in vaccines. A former ACIP member told NBC News that the overhaul could undermine the CDC’s credibility in issuing vaccine recommendations.
“With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses,” Bruce Scott, MD, president of the American Medical Association, said in a statement.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the new advisory committee will be free of financial conflicts of interest with pharmaceutical companies.
“Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,” Mr. Kennedy said, adding that ACIP “failed to scrutinize vaccine products given to babies and pregnant women.”
Tina Tan, MD, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, condemned the federal action and said Mr. Kennedy’s allegations about ACIP’s integrity were “completely unfounded” in a June 9 statement.
“Unilaterally removing an entire panel of experts is reckless, shortsighted and severely harmful,” she said.
Under Mr. Kennedy’s leadership, the CDC in May removed its recommendation that healthy children and pregnant women receive routine COVID-19 vaccinations. Multiple national healthcare organizations — including the IDSA and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America — expressed concerns over the decision, stating it lacks alignment with established scientific consensus.
One week after the recommendation was rescinded, Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, MD, who co-led the ACIP’s COVID-19 vaccine work group, resigned.
