RFK Jr. announces eight new members of vaccine panel after firing all 17 members
Two days after he fired all 17 members of a committee that advises the federal government on vaccine safety, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced eight new members, including a physician criticized for spreading COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Vaccine experts warned Kennedy’s abrupt termination of the entire committee on June 9 would create public distrust around the government’s role in promoting public health. The new list of members includes scientists, public-health experts and physicians.
“All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense,” wrote Kennedy in a post on X on June 11. “They have each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations.”
The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices makes recommendations on the safety, efficacy and clinical need of vaccines to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It comprises medical and public health experts who develop recommendations on the use of vaccines in the civilian population of the United States.
“The committee will review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule as well,” noted Kennedy, who has a history of controversial views on vaccines.
Dr. Paul A. Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, previously told USA TODAY that Kennedy was “fixing a problem that doesn’t exist,” by overhauling the committee.
Picking members for the committee generally involves a three- to four-month vetting process by the CDC. Offit said he would “presumably pick people who are like-minded, and I think that will shake confidence in this committee.”
Kennedy’s list of picks includes some widely-respected experts, such as Dr. Cody Meissner, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Tufts Children’s Hospital.
However, it also includes some prominent figures who have criticized vaccines.
One of them, Dr. Robert Malone, is a virologist and vaccine skeptic who became well-known during the COVID-19 pandemic for spreading misinformation about the virus on conservative shows and podcasts. His appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” prompted public uproar against Spotify after Malone promoted false and misleading conspiracy theories about the vaccine, even invoking Nazi Germany. The physician-scientist and biochemist has falsely claimed spike proteins from COVID-19 mRNA vaccines often cause permanent damage to children’s vital organs.
Kennedy’s picks for ACIP also includes Vicky Pebsworth, who has been listed on the board of the National Vaccine Information Center, a group widely criticized for spreading vaccine misinformation.
Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, was also picked to serve on the federal advisory committee. In 2023, he posted a video on X criticizing COVID-19 vaccines. The post is pinned to his profile.
“The evidence is mounting and indisputable that MRNA vaccines cause serious harm including death, especially among young people,” he said. “We have to stop giving them immediately!”
Dr. Martin Kulldorff, another one of Kennedy’s ACIP picks, wrote a paper published in the Journal of the Academy of Public Health in March that called for a “COVID Commission” that would investigate the National Institutes of Health’s handling of the pandemic.
Other appointees include:
Dr. Joseph R. Hibbeln, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist with a career in clinical research, public health policy, and federal service;
Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician;
Dr. Michael A. Ross, a clinical professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University.
