CDC Advisers Removed By RFK Jr. Say Kennedy Weakened Vaccine Program

The 17 members of a federal vaccine advisory committee who were ousted last week say their abrupt dismissal has "left the U.S. vaccine program critically weakened," ABC News reporters Youri Benadjaoud and Will McDuffie reported.

In an unprecedented move, Kennedy dismissed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). I Photo: CDC

Speaking collectively for the first time since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed them, the group said his actions "have stripped the program of the institutional knowledge and continuity that have been essential to its success over decades."

Their comments appeared in an editorial published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

In an unprecedented move, Kennedy dismissed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), writing in The Wall Street Journal that "a clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science."

Kennedy accused the panel of being riddled with conflicts of interest and described it as a “rubber stamp” for all vaccines.

Two days later, Kennedy appointed eight new members—some with prior associations with him. A few have expressed vaccine-skeptical views that echo Kennedy's past positions.