«This measure will further fuel the spread of preventable diseases,» says the president of the American Medical Association.
The U.S. Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., dismissed all 17 members of the scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccine use this Monday. ‘It is necessary to make a clean slate to restore public trust in vaccine science,’ Kennedy Jr. wrote in an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal where he announced his decision.
The website listing the committee members was removed on Monday, shortly after Kennedy’s announcement. ‘Vaccines have become a divisive issue in American politics, but there is one thing that all parties agree on: the United States is facing a public trust crisis. Whether it’s towards health agencies, pharmaceutical companies, or the vaccines themselves, the public’s trust is eroding,’ the Secretary of Health states in his article.
Kennedy argues that blaming misinformation —such as that which he himself has propagated— and anti-scientific attitudes would be a mistake because, in his opinion, it ignores «a history of conflicts of interest, persecution of dissenters, lack of curiosity, and biased science that has plagued the vaccine regulatory apparatus for decades.»»In the 1960s, the world sought guidance from U.S. health regulators, who enjoyed a reputation for integrity, scientific impartiality, and enthusiastic advocacy for patient welfare. Since then, public trust has collapsed, but we will restore it,» he adds.
All the members of the committee who are now sidelined had been appointed during Joe Biden’s presidency. ‘Without removing the current members, the current Trump Administration would not have been able to appoint most of the new members until 2028,’ wrote Kennedy, who claimed that the committee members had too many conflicts of interest.
During his appearance before the Senate to seek his confirmation, Democratic senators criticized him for how he had financially benefited from his anti-vaccine activities and could continue to do so even as Secretary of Health, under a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company Merck.
Before being the Secretary of Health, Kennedy spread rumors and unscientific falsehoods and asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke the authorization it had granted to COVID vaccines, which saved millions of lives worldwide and helped overcome the pandemic. He claimed that «there is no vaccine that is safe and effective» and repeatedly called for further studies on routine childhood vaccinations, despite decades of research and real-world use that demonstrate they have safely prevented diseases. He asserted that vaccines cause autism and allergies. Additionally, he is involved in a lawsuit against Merck regarding the human papillomavirus vaccine that is administered to protect against cervical cancer.
Despite all of this, when he appeared before a Senate committee to seek his confirmation in office, he stated: «I am not an anti-vaccine person.» Recently, he took the unusual step of changing the recommendations on COVID without first consulting the panel. The Health Secretary’s decision received immediate criticism from the medical community. «For generations, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been a reliable national source of scientific and data-driven advice and guidance on the use of vaccines to prevent and control diseases,» said Bruce A. Scott, president of the American Medical Association, in a statement. «Doctors, parents, community leaders, and public health officials rely on them for clinical guidance, public health information, and insights.»
The measure taken today to dismiss the 17 current members of the ACIP undermines that trust and disrupts a transparent process that has saved countless lives. With an ongoing outbreak of measles and declining rates of routine childhood vaccinations, this measure will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases,» he argued.Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, called Kennedy’s mass dismissal a «coup d’état.» «That’s not how democracies work.
It’s not good for the health of the nation,» he stated to the AP agency. According to Benjamin, the measure raises serious questions about whether future committee members will be considered impartial. He added that Kennedy is acting against what he told lawmakers and the public, and that the public health association plans to monitor Kennedy.