Including ‘last-minute appointees of the Biden administration’
By Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, The Daily Signal
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all 17 members of a key committee that assesses and recommends vaccines.
Kennedy wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal Monday saying he was “taking a bold step in restoring public trust by totally reconstituting the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.”
“We are retiring the 17 current members of the committee, some of whom were last-minute appointees of the Biden administration,” Kennedy wrote. “Without removing the current members, the current Trump administration would not have been able to appoint a majority of new members until 2028.”
The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, or ACIP, evaluates the safety, efficacy, and clinical need of the vaccines and submits its findings to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The health secretary cited conflict-of-interest concerns as the reason for overhauling the board.
“The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine,” Kennedy wrote. “It has never recommended against a vaccine—even those later withdrawn for safety reasons. It has failed to scrutinize vaccine products given to babies and pregnant women.”