Vaccine Skeptics Among CDC Vaccine Panel Replacements Named by RFK Jr

Just days after announcing that he was firing all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP),1 HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has named 8 new members to replace the ousted members,2 claiming the move was done to improve public trust in vaccines in the country. However, several members of the new committee have demonstrated antivaccine rhetoric, sparking concern from some medical experts.

RFK Jr names several individuals to ACIP, including several vaccine skeptics | Image credit: Alernon77 - stock.adobe.com

The removal of all previous members of ACIP, a committee within the CDC that provides guidance surrounding vaccines, was done on June 9 with the aim of restoring public trust in vaccines,1 continuing a pattern of vaccine skepticism demonstrated by the secretary.3 In the past, ACIP has acted as a means of improving public health, including publishing annual recommendations for how vaccines should be administered to the public to prevent uncontrolled disease, according to the CDC.4 Recommendations are published for each available vaccine in the US, including vaccines that tackle influenza, COVID-19, polio, and the measles, mumps, and rubella.

The dismissal of the members of ACIP indicated a distrust in these recommendations by the HHS secretary. Kennedy claimed that ACIP had conflicts of interest, had provided rubber stamps for any vaccine, and contained last-minute appointees by the Biden administration.1 However, all members of ACIP are required to disclose any potential conflicts as well as recuse themselves from any decision that could be a conflict of interest, a customary practice for those in such government positions as well as those in scientific research. The previous 17 members of ACIP had been appointed by President Joseph Biden.5

Among the new appointees announced on June 11 are Robert Malone, MD, and Martin Kulldorff, PhD, who had previously cast doubt about the severity of COVID-19 and had expressed distrust in vaccines. Other new appointees include Joseph Hibbeln, MD; Retsef Levi, PhD; H. Cody Meissner, MD; James Pagano, MD; Vicky Pebsworth, PhD, RN; and Michael Ross, MD.2

Malone is known for his skepticism surrounding the severity of COVID-19 and recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to treat the virus, both of which have not been found effective in treating the virus by the World Health Organization6 or the FDA.7 Malone has also previously said that the COVID-19 vaccine could cause a form of AIDS and that Americans were hypnotized into getting vaccinated.2 Kulldorff has also been the subject of controversy, as he was reportedly fired from Harvard Medical School due to social media posts in 2021 claiming that children and other adults who had prior natural infection do not need to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Other members of ACIP have also expressed vaccine disinformation or skepticism, with Levi coauthoring a paper attempting to link the COVID-19 vaccine with cardiovascular events, as well as calling for the end of the COVID-19 vaccination program,8 and Pebsworth being a board member of the National Vaccine Information Center, which has been known for spreading vaccine misinformation.2 Pebsworth also testified as a consumer representative for FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, where she claimed that her child was injured by his 15-month well-baby shots in 1998. Ross is an operating partner of a private equity fund that specializes in health care, and Hibbeln has published research looking for associations between child development and mercury exposure that occurred in the prenatal period.

Meissner is a former ACIP member, and his experience includes a 5-year term as an FDA advisor on the vaccine advisory panel and an established career as an expert in infectious diseases.8 However, he has criticized masking children and supported removing pregnant women and healthy children from those recommended to get the COVID-19 vaccine.9

Kennedy took to X to assure that the new members are "committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense," and will demand "definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations."

The former deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services in the first Trump administration, David Mansdoerfer, praised HHS in a post on X: This is a huge win for the medical freedom [m]ovement
and delivers on both @SecKennedy and @POTUS MAHA agenda.

However, public health experts have voiced concern over the lack of "strong, current expertise in vaccines" displayed by the new members. Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Law, San Francisco, who studies vaccine policy, said, "It tells me that Kennedy is setting up a committee that would be skeptical of vaccines, and possibly willing to implement an anti-vaccine agenda."

Overall, the consensus appears to be that the appointments mark a shift in the approach of ACIP. The first meeting of the new ACIP members will be on June 25, which will give a first glimpse into which way the panel will take the advisory committee.

References

1. Grossi G. RFK Jr sweeps clean CDC vaccine advisory panel, aiming to bolster public confidence. AJMC®. June 9, 2025. Accessed June 12, 2025. https://www.ajmc.com/view/rfk-jr-sweeps-clean-cdc-vaccine-advisory-panel-aiming-to-bolster-public-confidence

2. Fiore K. RFK Jr. names replacements for CDC vaccine panel. Medpage Today. June 11, 2025. Accessed June 12, 2025. https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/vaccines/116026

3. Grossi G. 5 health policy stances of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. AJMC®. November 15, 2024. Accessed June 12, 2025. https://www.ajmc.com/view/5-health-policy-stances-of-robert-f-kennedy-jr

4. Vaccine-specific recommendations. CDC. January 7, 2025. Accessed June 12, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/acip-recs/hcp/vaccine-specific/

5. Kekatos M. RFK Jr. removes all 17 members of CDC’s vaccine advisory committee. ABC News. June 9, 2025. Accessed June 12, 2025. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/rfk-jr-removing-17-members-cdcs-vaccine-advisory/story?id=122670046

6. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): hydroxychloroquine. World Health Organization. April 23, 2025. Accessed June 12, 2025. https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-hydroxychloroquine

7. Ivermectin and COVID-19. FDA. Updated April 5, 2024. Accessed June 12, 2025. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/ivermectin-and-covid-19

8. Stobbe M. Kennedy’s new CDC panel includes members who have criticized vaccines and spread misinformation. AP News. June 11, 2025. Accessed June 12, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/cdc-acip-vaccine-committee-9f58e1f004075b081718ff078de88d76

9. Stone W, Huang P. RFK Jr. names new slate of vaccine advisers after purging CDC panel. NPR. June 11, 2025. Accessed June 12, 2025. https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/06/11/nx-s1-5430870/cdc-vaccine-experts-rfk-jr