Kennedy Fires All 17 Members of CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 sitting members of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, citing alleged conflicts of interest without producing evidence. The fired members included pediatricians and epidemiologists who set the federal childhood vaccine schedule. Kennedy replaced them with eight handpicked members, several with documented vaccine-skeptic affiliations. Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to confirm Kennedy after extracting a written pledge that ACIP would stay "without changes," said the new panel "lacks experience" and asked it not to meet.