US health secretary Robert Kennedy Jr on Wednesday named new members to serve on a key panel of vaccine advisers after abruptly firing all 17 sitting members of the independent panel of experts, according to a post on X.
The eight new members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices are: Joseph R Hibbeln, Martin Kulldorff, Retsef Levi, Robert W Malone, Cody Meissner, James Pagano, Vicky Pebsworth and Michael A Ross.
“All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense,” Mr Kennedy said in a post on X. The panel is part of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Mr Kennedy said the new members are committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations.
Humiliation of tens of thousands of immigrants in a Florida processing centre surrounded by alligators will generate a backlash
‘Everyone is digging for gold now’: Desperate Syrians resort to scouring ancient sites
The Strait of Hormuz: why is it so important?
Did Iran move its uranium? Opinions split on fate of 400kg stockpile
Mr Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has alleged that the prior panel members, many of whom were appointed by former president Joe Biden, had conflicts of interest, without providing evidence of specific members’ conflicts, and said the move was necessary “to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science”.
Numerous physician groups have expressed concern and suspicion over Mr Kennedy’s unprecedented removal of all the panel’s prior members.
The American Medical Association, the nation’s largest physician group, has called for a Senate investigation into their dismissal and sent Mr Kennedy a letter calling for an immediate reversal of the changes. —Reuters
