Health Secretary RFK Jr. says ‘a clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.’
All members of the committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are being replaced, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on June 9.
The 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) have been removed under the direction of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., HHS, the CDC’s parent agency, said in a statement.
All of the members were appointed during the Biden administration, and 11 of them were set to serve on the committee until 2027 or 2028. HHS alleged that the appointments were made in an effort to “lock in public health ideology and limit the incoming administration’s ability to take the proper actions to restore public trust in vaccines.”
“A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science,” Kennedy said in a statement.
A copy of a termination notice viewed by The Epoch Times said that per a June 9 directive from Kennedy, “this email serves as formal notice of your immediate termination as a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.” It added, “We appreciate your prior service and commitment.”
He said the new members, who have not been identified, “will prioritize public health and evidence-based medicine” and that the panel “will no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas.”
Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, listed as a member on the committee’s website and the interim chair of the Stanford University School of Medicine, had told The Epoch Times in an email earlier Monday that she was still a member. She did not respond when asked about the HHS announcement.
Other members whose contact information could be found either did not respond to requests for comment on Monday or declined to comment.
The panel’s members included Dr. Edwin Jose Asturias, a professor of pediatrics and infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine; Oliver Brooks, the CEO of Watts HealthCare Corporation in Los Angeles; and Dr. Jamie Loehr, the owner of Cayuga Family Medicine in New York state.
