US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, has removed all 17 members of a committee that issues official government recommendations on immunizations
Announcing the move in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy said that conflicts of interest on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (Acip) were responsible for undermining trust in vaccinations.
Kennedy said he wanted to “ensure the American people receive the safest vaccines possible.”
On Monday he said he was “retiring” all of the Acip panel members. Eight of the 17 panellists were appointed in January 2025, in the last days of President Biden’s term.
Most of the members are practising doctors and experts attached to major university medical centres.
Kennedy noted that if he did not remove the committee members, President Trump would not have been able to appoint a majority on the panel until 2028.
Doctors and health experts have criticized Kennedy’s longstanding questioning of the safety and efficacy of a number of vaccines, although in his Senate confirmation hearing he said he is “not going to take them away.”
