Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced the new members of a key vaccine advisory committee, just days after he fired all sitting members in what he called “a clean sweep.”
The eight new voting members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices represent a significant downsizing from the 17 who previously served.
Kennedy in a post on X said the new members will meet as scheduled on June 25 to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine. They will review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule as well, he said.
“The slate includes highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America’s most accomplished physicians. All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense,” he added.
The eight new ACIP members announced by Kennedy are:
Joseph R. Hibbeln, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who worked on nutritional neurosciences at the National Institutes of Health.
Martin Kulldorff, epidemiologist formerly at Harvard Medical School.
Retsef Levi, professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Robert W. Malone, a biochemist who took part in early research of mRNA vaccine technology.
Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College who previously served on ACIP.
James Pagano, emergency medicine physician.
Vicky Pebsworth, Pacific region director of the National Association of Catholic Nurses. She formerly sat on the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.
Michael A. Ross, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Kennedy on Tuesday said that none of the new ACIP members will be “ideological anti-vaxxers” but some of the new members are well-known COVID-19 contrarians and are known for spreading vaccine misinformation.
Malone, who claims to be the inventor of mRNA vaccines despite what those who’ve worked with him say, became a fixture of conservative media during the pandemic. He promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin for treating the coronavirus, and repeatedly claimed the COVID shots did not work.
Kulldorff was one the leading authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, along with current NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya.
Kennedy fired all 17 sitting members of the ACIP for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday, claiming a “clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science.”
The ACIP is an independent, expert panel that provides guidance on vaccine recommendations. The sweeping, abrupt firing of all sitting ACIP members this week was met with alarm and concern, with groups like the American Nurses Association saying it could further “erode public confidence” in vaccines.
The move also directly contradicted an assurance that Kennedy had given to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, when he said he would “maintain the [ACIP] without changes.”
