RFK Jr orders MAJOR shakeup among top vaccine advisors as he unleashes blitzkrieg against CDC
He said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Monday that all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with be 'retired.'
Kennedy, one of the nation´s leading anti-vaccine skeptics before becoming the nation´s top health official, has not said who he would appoint to the panel, but said it would convene in just two weeks in Atlanta.
Although it´s typically not viewed as a partisan board, the Biden administration had installed the entire committee.
'Without removing the current members, the current Trump administration would not have been able to appoint a majority of new members until 2028,' Kennedy wrote
'A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science. '
Kennedy said the committee members had too many conflicts of interest. Committee members routinely disclose any possible conflicts at the start of public meetings.
Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, called Kennedy's mass ouster 'a coup.'
'It´s not how democracies work. It´s not good for the health of the nation,' Benjamin told The Associated Press.
Benjamin said the move raises real concerns about whether future committee members will be viewed as impartial.
He added that Kennedy is going against what he told lawmakers and the public, and the public health association plans to watch Kennedy 'like a hawk.'
'He is breaking a promise,' Benjamin said. 'He said he wasn´t going to do this.'
Dr. Bruce A. Scott, president of the American Medical Association, called the committee a trusted source of science- and data-driven advice and said Kennedy´s move, coupled with declining vaccination rates across the country, will help drive an increase in vaccine-preventable diseases.
'Today´s action to remove the 17 sitting members of ACIP undermines that trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives,' Scott said in a statement.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor who had expressed reservations about Kennedy´s nomination but voted to install him as the nation´s health secretary nonetheless, said he had spoken with Kennedy moments after the announcement.
'Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,' Cassidy said in a social media post.
'I´ve just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I´ll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.'
Cassidy, a physician, had major concerns with Kennedy's ever-changing position on vaccines, but in the end, he was convinced by Kennedy and MAGA allies to back the known vaccine skeptic.
'Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed that he and I would have an unprecedentedly close, collaborative working relationship if he is confirmed,' Cassidy said on the floor of the Senate after advancing his nomination.
'We will meet or speak multiple times a month. This collaboration will allow us to work well together and therefore to be more effective,' Cassidy claimed.
Cassidy, who chairs the HELP Committee, grilled Kennedy over his stance on vaccines and pressed him to deny there were a link between vaccines and autism, but Kennedy would not unequivocally say it.
At the end of the hearing, the senator said he was 'struggling' with Kennedy's over his past statements which undermined confidence in childhood vaccines.
The committee had been in a state of flux since Kennedy took over. Its first meeting this year had been delayed when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services abruptly postponed its February meeting.
During Kennedy´s confirmation, Cassidy had expressed concerns about preserving the committee, saying he had sought assurances that Kennedy would keep the panel's current vaccine recommendations.
Kennedy did not stick to that. He recently took the unusual step of changing COVID-19 recommendations without first consulting the advisers.
The webpage that featured the committee´s members was deleted Monday evening, shortly after Kennedy´s announcement.
Longtime Trump foe Sen. Mitch McConnell, 82, was the only Republican to vote against RFK Jr. He also voted 'no' on Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence and Pete Hegseth for Pentagon chief.
Trump tapped the 70-year-old former Democrat to be the country's top health official with the mandate to 'Make America Healthy Again.'
But Kennedy was put under the microscope ahead of the vote for his past controversial stances on vaccinations, abortion and for promoting conspiracy theories.
The vote came after Kennedy cleared a procedural hurdle early Wednesday where senators voted directly along party lines to advance his nomination.
But his entire confirmation path was rocky as the nominee faced pushback from Democrats who accused him of being anti-vaccine and anti-science.
Some members of his famous Kennedy family also came out against his confirmation with scathing attacks on his character.
But Kennedy and Trump struck up a relationship which paid off after the onetime Democratic and then Independent presidential candidate dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Trump last summer.
Trump named his one-time critic his pick to be the country's top health official just days after the November election.
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