Shocking Shake-Up: RFK Jr. Fires Entire CDC Vaccine Advisory Panel, Triggering Public Outcry
- Natalie Frank
- Jun 9
- 1 min read
Health Secretary RFK Jr. dismantles the 17-member ACIP team in a dramatic attempt to “restore trust,” igniting fierce debate over science, politics, and public safety
Natalie C. Frank, Ph.D June 9. 2025
WASHINGTON D.C. - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Monday that he was disbanding the 17-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on national vaccine policy. His statement, which he described as a dramatic “retirement” of the entire committee, has led to serious controversy, retriggering concerns about how Kennedy is politicizing America’s vaccine infrastructure and eliminating trust in the scientific community.
“A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science,” Kennedy stated in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, where he described his decision as a crucial step to cleanse what he characterized as a committee that was “plagued with persistent conflicts of interest” and acting as little more than “a rubber stamp for any vaccine.”
