The HHS has announced plans to “reconstitute the [CDC] Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), firing 17 current members and replacing them with people under current consideration.” CIDRAP has the news.
The move “comes just ahead of ACIP’s next regularly scheduled meeting from June 25 to June 27, during which the group is slated to take up COVID-19 vaccine matters, as well as those for several other vaccines. Also, the announcement comes in the wake of a recent top-down decision about COVID vaccine recommendations, which deemphasized recommended use in children, pregnant women, and other groups.”
HHS did not detail the “scientific basis” of its new recommendations. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said “the step is needed to restore public trust, and to remove conflicts of interests. The statement did not detail any conflicts seen in the current members.” The agency said the “Biden administration appointed all 17 members, including 13 in 2024, and the Trump administration would have been prevented from choosing a majority of the committee until 2028.”
The director of CIDRAP, Michael Osterholm, went on record saying the move signaled “one of the darkest days in modern public health history.” Infectious Diseases Society of America president Tina Tan said “the move will have a negative impact on Americans of all ages.”
Matt MacKenzie | Associate Editor
Matt is Associate Editor for Healthcare Purchasing News.
