Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is making good on his promise to radically reshape the vaccine policy landscape as he ousts the entire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. In a press release issued by the Department of HHS on June 9th, Kennedy says he’s doing this in order to restore the public’s trust in vaccine science in America. It’s unknown who Kennedy will hire to replace committee members, but it’s possible they may share his skeptical views of vaccines. In turn, this could have the effect of increasing the public’s vaccine hesitancy.
ACIP advises the director of the CDC on which vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration should be used; for example, recommending which groups of people o