The US department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has culled the 17 Biden-appointed members on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a move observers warn is liable to further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses.
Under the leadership of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr), the former ACIP members will be replaced with new members who are currently under consideration.
Go deeper with GlobalData
ACIP is the committee responsible for reviewing vaccine data and issuing official government recommendations on immunisations.
According to a communique issued by the HHS, ‘reconstituting’ the ACIP will “restore public trust” in vaccines, with the new ACIP members intended to ensure that government scientific activities are informed by “the most credible, reliable, and impartial scientific evidence available”.
RFK Jr said a clean sweep is “necessary” to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science, stating that the committee will no longer function as a “rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas”.
Without removing the current members, the current Trump administration would not have been able to appoint a majority of new members until 2028, RFK Jr wrote.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataIn a comment piece published in the Wall Street Journal on the same day as the HHS press release, RFK Jr pointed to persistent conflicts of interest in ACIP members, alleging that panellists vote on products for financial reasons. The health secretary pointed to historical evidence for this, including an investigation from over 20 years ago. He noted that these conflicts of interest continue to the current day, with ACIP members receiving substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies.
The health secretary is known to have publicly questioned the necessity and safety of vaccines in the past, and has previously made baseless claims about the health agencies under the HHS. In a speech at the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in April, RFK Jr claimed that FDA employees were ‘sock puppets’ to the industry they regulate and made dubious claims about the existence of autism.
Regarding vaccines, the health secretary denied being anti-vaccination during his senate confirmation hearing, yet has since adopted a laissez faire attitude towards the ongoing measles outbreak in West Texas and suggested that Vitamin A may prove a suitable alternative treatment to measles than a vaccine.
Covid-19 vaccine recommendations flashpoint
One of the consequences RFK Jr alluded to was the failure to scrutinise vaccine products given to babies and pregnant women. In late May, RFK Jr oversaw a major change to the Covid-19 vaccination schedule, by removing recommendations to children and pregnant women.
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) said it now withholding support for the CDC latest immunisation schedule, citing inconsistencies with scientific evidence.
The APhA, which represents around 62,000 members and is considered the largest pharmacist advocacy body in the US, reviews and evaluates the ACIP Adult Immunisation Schedule annually.
APhA said it had decided to “withhold endorsing the current ACIP Adult Immunization Schedule issued on May 28, 2025″.
The major shake-up to the schedule came via a video announcement from RFK Jr. The changes included a stop to the recommendation of Covid-19 vaccines to healthy children and pregnant women.
Up until May, the CDC said that jabs protecting against Covid-19 were safe and effective in these two population groups. It was unusual for the health secretary to first announce the updates themselves, though the CDC eventually updated its website afterwards.
APhA said that studies show that people who are pregnant or were recently pregnant are more likely to become ill from Covid-19, more likely to require hospitalisation or intensive care, and have an increased risk of complications that can affect the baby.
“APhA’s stance is that pregnancy is a high-risk condition; therefore, people who are pregnant should be recommended to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. The May 2025 updates to the Covid-19 vaccine recommendations do not appear to be based on the scientific evidence provided over the past few years,” the organisation said in a 9 June statement.
APhA said it would reconsider its endorsement if future updates were based on scientific evidence.
Industry reaction
Observers have expressed fears that the removal of the 17 sitting members of ACIP “undermines trust” and upends the duties of the longstanding committee that has “saved countless lives”.
President of the American Medical Association (AMA), Bruce A Scott said: “For generations, the ACIP has been a trusted national source of science-and data-driven advice and guidance on the use of vaccines to prevent and control disease. Physicians, parents, community leaders and public health officials rely on them for clinical guidance, public health information.
“With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses.”
US non-profit, Vaccinate Your Family, highlighted that the ACIP’s recommendations serve as the foundation for determining which vaccines must be covered – without out-of-pocket costs – by public and private insurance programmes, including coverage under the Affordable Care Act and the Vaccines for Children (VFC) programme – both of which collectively protect millions of Americans.
“Disrupting ACIP’s work introduces dangerous uncertainty about which vaccines will continue to be covered and whether families will have to pay out of pocket for routine immunisations,” the non-profit said.
William Blair analyst Miles Minter said: “We expect that new ACIP members will be installed under the guidance of HHS leadership, including RFK Jr and the Trump administration.”
“We view the complete line change at the ACIP as a potential hindrance to the vaccine development space, as we think the new committee members may have more restrictive recommendations on vaccine uptake and use,” Minter added.
Health agency cuts
Cuts to the ACIP continue Secretary Kennedy’s agenda to reshape the health agencies nested under the HHS. In April, thousands of employees at US health agencies including the CDC, FDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) received notices that their jobs were being eliminated as part of the Trump administration’s plans to ‘Make America Healthy Again’.
Under the aegis of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE), a government cost-cutting initiative that was helmed by billionaire Elon Musk, observers have warned that the cuts, over time, are likely to have a deleterious effect on the critical functioning of the agencies, affecting processes such as research funding at the NIH and drug and device review processes at the FDA.
To account for the FDA staffing cuts, FDA head Martin Makary recently shepherded in the implementation of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) at the agency following a pilot of the technology’s application in scientific review tasks.
Mooted for implementation by 30 June, genAI at the FDA has been rolled out ahead of schedule. Some early reports indicate that the technology is helping to expedite review times, while others note that it ‘struggles’ with basic tasks.
