Fired ACIP panel says RFK Jr is weakening vaccine programmes

All 17 former members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices (ACIP) who were abruptly sacked last week by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr have hit back at the decision in an open letter.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the letter says that the dismissal of the advisors and the appointment of eight new ACIP members two days later, along with reductions in CDC staff working on immunisations, have left the US vaccine programme "critically weakened."

"These actions have stripped the programme of the institutional knowledge and continuity that have been essential to its success over decades," write the authors.

"As former ACIP members, we are deeply concerned that these destabilising decisions, made without clear rationale, may roll back the achievements of US immunisation policy, impact people's access to lifesaving vaccines, and ultimately put US families at risk of dangerous and preventable illnesses."

When announcing the dismissals, Kennedy claimed the ACIP members were tainted by conflicts of interest and were rubber-stamping decisions favourable to pharma companies – a view refuted in the letter.

"Despite recent suggestions to the contrary, health care providers and the US public trust ACIP," the former panellists wrote, pointing out that for the past 18 years, 99% of children in the US have received at least some vaccines recommended by the committee by the age of two.

"This does not suggest the population is so distrustful that it warrants dismantling the process by which vaccines have been recommended," they continued, noting that members have to be nominated by their peers, go through background checks, and disclose any financial interests that may pose a conflict – a process that can take up to two years.

That chimes with criticism levelled against Kennedy for his ACIP picks, who appear to have been appointed without going through that transparency and vetting process and include some individuals who have a history of anti-vaccine rhetoric.

The letter also takes issue with "recent changes to COVID-19 vaccine policy, made directly by the HHS secretary and released on social media, appear to have bypassed the standard, transparent, and evidence-based review process."

Those changes include restricted labels for new boosters from Novavax and Moderna, a new clinical trial requirement for new shots intended for widespread use, and stronger warnings for heart toxicity on labels of mRNA-based vaccines.

"Such actions reflect a troubling disregard for the scientific integrity that has historically guided US immunisation strategy," according to the former advisors.

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