Kennedy’s Replacement of Entire Vaccine Advisory Committee Causes Widespread Alarm

Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), the body of experts that reviews vaccine safety and efficacy data and makes recommendations on vaccine scheduling as well as precautions and contraindications to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In a June 9 news release, HHS announced the dismissals, claiming it as a “bold step to restore public trust in vaccines.” In a post the next day on the social media platform X, Kennedy accused the committee of financial corruption and of “malevolent malpractice” for allegedly not requiring placebo-controlled trials for childhood vaccines, a misleading and inaccurate claim he has made frequently in the past.

Refuted and misleading claims.

In a May ‘Fact-Checked’ news release, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) refuted his claims, stating that most childhood vaccines were tested originally in randomized clinical trials that included placebo or comparison groups. AAP also noted that when testing a replacement for an existing vaccine, the comparator is the existing vaccine, not an inert placebo, because “when a safe, effective vaccine already exists against a disease, giving children in the placebo group no protection against that disease is unethical.” And, according to a New York Times report, politics was also involved in his decision, with Kennedy reportedly concerned because all of the committee members had been appointed by a Democratic president and some had donated to the Democratic party.

Near-universal outcry and concern.

Medical and public health experts immediately decried the move as dangerous and one that will further erode public trust, not restore it. The major health organizations issued statements expressing outrage and deep concern for the impact on children and families. Fourteen national nursing organizations, including the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the American Nurses Association, National League for Nursing, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, and the American Academy of Nursing, among others, issued a joint statement expressing “strong concerns” about the negative impact the dismissals will have on health care.

Within 24 hours, American Medical Association (AMA) delegates adopted an emergency resolution directing AMA leadership to send a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee asking for an investigation into the firings. They also directed leadership to “identify and evaluate alternative evidence-based vaccine advisory structures and invest resources in such initiatives, as necessary.”

A longtime contributor to vaccine distrust.

Kennedy is correct that trust in vaccines has fallen, remaining high across the population but dropping from 90% to 82% over the last two years. However, Kennedy himself has sown distrust through his long history of anti-vaccine advocacy before becoming HHS secretary and through comments and actions he’s taken since, including questioning the safety of vaccines and integrity of scientists working on vaccines, stating in response to the ongoing surge in measles cases nationwide that it is a strictly personal decision whether or not to vaccinate and that good nutrition is the best defense against infectious illnesses.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll suggests that trust in vaccines may fall out by partisan lines, with trust rising in the past two years among Democratic parents from 93% to 94% and falling among Republican parents from 87% to 72%. This difference also aligns with Americans’ views of Secretary Kennedy—only 7% of Democrats, compared to 81% of Republicans, report having a great deal or fair amount of trust in Kennedy.

Hastily appointed committee replacements.

Within two days of emptying out the committee, Kennedy announced eight replacements—six physicians, one nurse, and an operations management professor. One of the replacements, Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth, has served in advisory roles with the CDC and FDA and is respected for his vaccine knowledge. Three of the physicians—an obstetrician, an emergency department clinician, and a psychiatrist, do not have any expertise in immunology. The remaining four new members, including the nurse, Vicky Pebsworth, PhD, RN, are perhaps most troubling to public health and vaccine experts as they are known vaccine skeptics, outright anti-vaxxers, or have engaged in spreading falsehoods and conspiracy theories related to vaccines and COVID-19. Pebsworth is a board member of the National Vaccine Information Center, an anti-vaccine organization that promotes misinformation about the effectiveness and risks of vaccines.

The new committee will meet for the scheduled June 25 to 27 meeting, for which the agenda includes recommendation votes on COVID-19 vaccines, HPV vaccine, influenza vaccines, meningococcal vaccine, RSV vaccines for adults, and RSV vaccine for maternal and pediatric populations.

In the past, ACIP committee meetings have been open to the public via a live webcast and public comments can be submitted either beforehand or at the meeting. For information on viewing the meeting or submitting comments, go to the ACIP meeting information website.

AJN news director Karen Roush, PhD, RN, FNP, will be providing regular updates on AJN Off the Charts about the details and implications of rapid and potentially momentous changes being made by the Trump administration to the public health system in the United States. Her previous post is “The Repercussions of Trump Administration Cuts to NIH and Research Funding.”