Anti-vaccine advocate RFK Jr. fires entire CDC panel of vaccine advisors
a year ago
- #public health
- #vaccines
- #CDC
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US health secretary and anti-vaccine advocate, fired all 17 vaccine experts on the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
- Kennedy accused the committee of having 'persistent conflicts of interest' and acting as a 'rubber stamp for any vaccine.'
- The ACIP's role is to review, evaluate, and make recommendations on immunization practices, which the CDC typically adopts.
- The committee's recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines were overshadowed by new restrictions set by the FDA and Kennedy.
- Kennedy announced the restructuring of federal health guidance processes via a Wall Street Journal op-ed, an unusual move.
- He criticized ACIP and FDA advisors for ties to the pharmaceutical industry but claimed the issue wasn't necessarily corruption.