RFK Jr. Fires Entire CDC Vaccine Panel, Pledges Overhaul to Restore Public Trust
by Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Staff
(Worthy News) – In a sweeping and controversial move, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday dismissed all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), citing longstanding conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency. The decision has sparked outrage across the medical and public health communities.
Kennedy, once one of the nation’s most prominent anti-vaccine activists and now the top U.S. health official under the Trump administration, announced the mass ouster in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. He argued that the panel had become a rubber-stamp body plagued by bias and secrecy, and that a complete overhaul was necessary to “re-establish public confidence in vaccine science.”
“The committee has become little more than a rubber stamp,” Kennedy wrote. “It has never recommended against a vaccine–even those later withdrawn for safety reasons. A clean sweep is needed.”
Kennedy said new members will be appointed within two weeks, with the panel’s next meeting scheduled to take place in Atlanta. He has not yet disclosed who will fill the vacant seats.
Major medical organizations and former health officials immediately condemned the move. Dr. Tom Frieden, former CDC director and current head of Resolve to Save Lives, warned the action “makes our families less safe.”
“This is a dangerous and unprecedented action,” Frieden said. “Politicizing ACIP will undermine public trust under the guise of improving it.”
Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, called the firings “a coup.”
“He is breaking a promise,” Benjamin said. “It’s not how democracies work. It’s not good for the health of the nation.”
Kennedy defended his decision by pointing to multiple federal investigations over the past two decades that documented lapses in conflict-of-interest enforcement among ACIP members. He cited a 2009 HHS Inspector General report, which showed that 97% of financial disclosure forms were incomplete, with the CDC taking no meaningful corrective action.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician who had supported Kennedy’s confirmation despite concerns, acknowledged the backlash and said he spoke to Kennedy after the firings.
“Now the fear is that ACIP will be filled with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,” Cassidy said in a post on social media.
Kennedy has already made headlines by rescinding CDC guidance recommending COVID-19 vaccination for healthy children and pregnant women. His department is also investing $500 million into a new universal vaccine initiative dubbed “Generation Gold Standard,” while the CDC is re-examining data on autism rates, including any possible links to childhood immunization.
As of Monday evening, the CDC webpage listing ACIP members had been taken down.
Kennedy vowed that the reconstituted panel will be “independent, transparent, and scientifically rigorous,” and promised the new members will not be drawn from what he calls a “network of conflicted insiders.”
“The public must know that unbiased science guides the recommendations from our health agencies,” he said. “This will ensure the American people receive the safest vaccines possible.”
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