Childhood vaccine schedule under threat after RFK Jr.'s CDC shakeup

Public health experts are bracing for what could be fundamental changes to childhood vaccine policies that don’t align with scientific consensus, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention undergoes a major leadership shakeup.

Last week, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted CDC director Susan Monarez after she refused his demand to approve all recommendations made by the agency’s vaccine advisory committee, whose members were handpicked by him. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, has since named one of his allies, former biotech investor Jim O’Neill, as acting director.

Four other senior CDC leaders also resigned , including the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Amid the instability, experts fear that the Advisory Committee