RFK JR launches the entire US vaccine committee

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr., a skeptic of the vaccine, has removed all 17 members of a committee that issues official government recommendations on immunizations.

By announcing this move in The Wall Street Journal, Kennedy said the conflict of interest of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was responsible for undermining confidence in vaccinations.

Kennedy said he wanted to “guarantee that the American people get the most fascinated vaccines as possible.”

Doctors and health experts have criticized Kennedy’s long -standing safety and efficacy of a number of vaccines, although he said in hearing the Senate confirmation that he would not take them away.

On Monday, he said he was “retiring” all members of the Acip panel. Eight of the 17 participants were appointed in January 2025 in the last days of President Biden’s term.

Most members practice doctors and experts attached to large university medical centers.

Kennedy noted that if he did not remove the commission members, President Trump could appoint a majority in the group by 2028.

“The committee was struck by a constant conflict of interest and has become a little more than a rubber seal for each vaccine.” Kennedy wroteS

He claims that health authorities and medicinal companies are responsible for a “public confidence crisis”, which some are trying to explain “by blaming misinformation or attitudes to combat it.”

In the editorial office, Kennedy cites examples from the 90 and 2000 years and claims that the conflict of interest continues.

“Most of ACIP members have received significant funding from pharmaceutical companies, including these marketing vaccines,” he wrote at Wall Street Journal.

This move seems to be contrary to the assurances that Kennedy gave during his hearing for confirmation. Bill Cassidy, a Republican Senator from Louisiana, who is also a doctor, said he had received commitments from a healthcareer that ACIP would be maintained “without change.”

On Monday, Cassidy wrote to X: “Of course, the fear is that Acip will be filled with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion.

“I just talked to secretary Kennedy and I will continue to talk to him to guarantee that this is not the case.”

ACIP members are obliged to disclose a conflict of interests that are Posted onlineAnd to withdraw from voting on decisions in which they may have conflict.

“The problem is not necessarily that ACIP members are corrupt,” Kennedy wrote. “Most likely, they strive to serve the public interest, as they understand it.

“The problem is their immersion in a system of incentives brought into the industry and paradigms that require a narrow pro-industrial orthodoxy.”

Dr. Bruce Scott, president of the American Medical Association, a professional organization for American doctors, said the mass dismissal “overcomes a transparent process that saved countless lives.”

“With the continuation of measles outbreaks and routine vaccination rates against children, this move will further nourish the spread of diseases that can be subjected to the vaccine,” says Dr. Scott in a statement.

Kennedy did not say who would appoint to replace members on board. ACIP has a scheduled meeting on June 25, at which members are planned to vote on recommendations for vaccines for Covid, influenza, meningococcal disease, RSV and other diseases.

The BBC has contacted the US Department of Health and Human Services and the President of ACIP, Dr. Helen Keip Talbot, for comment.