In a stunning move, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced plans to reconstitute the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), firing 17 current members and replacing them with people under current consideration.
The move comes just ahead of ACIP’s next regularly scheduled meeting from June 25 to June 27, during which the group is slated to take up COVID-19 vaccine matters, as well as those for several other vaccines. Also, the announcement comes in the wake of a recent top-down decision about COVID vaccine recommendations, which deemphasized recommended use in children, pregnant women, and other groups.
Typically, ACIP makes vaccine recommendations following robust public deliberations. HHS did not detail the scientific basis of its new recommendations.
In a statement, the HHS Secretary Robert F. Kenney Jr. said the step is needed to restore public trust, and to remove conflicts of interests. The statement did not detail any conflicts seen in the current members.
Kennedy says 'clean sweep' needed
HHS said the Biden administration appointed all 17 members, including 13 in 2024, and the Trump administration would have been prevented from choosing a majority of the committee until 2028.
"A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science," Kennedy said. "ACIP's new members will prioritize public health and evidence-based medicine."
Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), which publishes CIDRAP News, called the move dangerous.
“This is one of the darkest days in modern public health history," he said. "Science does not matter to Mr. Kennedy.”
In a statement emailed to reporters, Infectious Diseases Society of America President Tina Tan, MD, said the move will have a negative impact on Americans of all ages.
“Unilaterally removing an entire panel of experts is reckless, shortsighted and severely harmful," Tan said.
