HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has appointed two new members to the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group he has been reshaping since June.
The new ACIP members are Adam Urato, MD, and Kimberly Biss, MD, who are both OB-GYN physicians, according to a Jan. 13 HHS news release. Their appointments underline Mr. Kennedy’s goal of “transparency, gold standard science and diverse expertise in guiding the nation’s immunization policies,” the release said.
Dr. Urato is an OB-GYN who specializes in maternal-fetal medicine. He has practiced for more than 20 years and is affiliated with several hospitals in the Framingham, Mass., area, including MetroWest Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Dr. Biss practices at Women’s Care, a specialty women’s health physician group in St. Petersburg, Fla. She formerly served as chief of staff and OB-GYN chair at Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg, according to HHS. Dr. Biss is a senior fellow at the Independent Medical Alliance — an organization that has incorrectly claimed COVID vaccines led to rising infant mortality, according to The New York Times. Two other ACIP members are also senior fellows at the IMA.
In June, Mr. Kennedy removed all 17 standing members of ACIP, which provides guidance to the CDC regarding vaccines. The CDC does not have to adopt the committee’s suggestions but usually does.
In recent months, federal health agencies have adopted the committee’s recommendations to remove a mercury-based preservative in flu vaccines, stop recommending universal COVID-19 vaccination and split up a quadrivalent shot for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella.
In a move not related to ACIP but aligned with the Trump administration’s priorities, the CDC is changing its U.S. childhood immunization schedule, reducing routine recommendations from 18 to 11 diseases.
Since the June overhaul of ACIP, Mr. Kennedy has named about a dozen new members, including Dr. Urato and Dr. Biss. The roster includes several members who have expressed anti-vaccine rhetoric. HHS said Mr. Kennedy “reconstituted ACIP to restore public trust in vaccines.”
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