Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy on Wednesday named eight new members to serve on an influential federal vaccine advisory panel after firing all 17 of the committee's members.
Why it matters: While Kennedy posted on X that the new appointees are committed to evidence-based medicine, several have a history of expressing anti-vaccine sentiment or voicing concerns about COVID-19 or mRNA vaccines.
By gutting the expert panel that's advised the government on vaccine policy for more than 60 years, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earned the condemnation of virtually every medical society, as well as former public health officials and local practitioners.
What became immediately clear is that no outside group can immediately step in and fill the vacuum if the public won't trust the reconstituted Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The big picture: The distress and lack of organization apparent in health circles on Tuesday was a sign that a new independent body that could act as a "shadow CDC" to truth-squad the Trump administration isn't close to materializing.
Current and former employees of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are calling on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign, warning that job cuts and proposed funding reductions will hurt the agency's ability to protect the public from future health outbreaks.
Why it matters: The Atlanta-based CDC has long been the unbiased hub Americans turn to for facts about health topics, including sexually transmitted infections, maternal and infant health and respiratory infections.
