Kennedy changes vaccine panel charter after legal setback

HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has followed a court ruling that his controversial appointments to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) were unlawful by changing the panel's charter.

The revised membership rules – which broaden the areas of expertise that can be held by ACIP members and introduce new criteria for "balance" by geography and speciality – came into effect a couple of weeks after a federal judge concluded that Kennedy's wholesale sacking and replacement of the panel last year was an overreach of his powers.

The highly controversial move has led to accusations that Kennedy has populated the committee with individuals who share his vaccine-sceptic stance and, in some cases, have links to organisations that have expressed anti-vaccine sentiments in the past.

The ruling stayed Kennedy's appointments and all votes taken by the ACIP since Kennedy changed the roster, including a January proposal to cut the number of recommended childhood immunisations in the US, eliminating the birth dose of the hepatitis B shot, and narrower use of COVID-19 vaccines.

Now, the charter gives Kennedy the right to appoint ACIP members, without going through the usual vetting processes to guarantee expertise in vaccines, and expands the list of relevant disciplines to include "biostatistics, toxicology, immunology, epidemiology, paediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, nursing, consumer issues," and others. That list covers some of Kennedy's more controversial appointments to the ACIP.

Previously, the charter insisted that members "shall be selected from authorities who are knowledgeable in the fields of immunisation practices and public health, have expertise in the use of vaccines and other immunobiologic agents in clinical practice or preventive medicine, have expertise with clinical or laboratory vaccine research, or have expertise in assessment of vaccine efficacy and safety."

The federal lawsuit, which was brought by the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) and other ‌medical organisations, argued that the changes to vaccine policy being pushed through by the ACIP would lead to reduced protection, particularly for children, and would be detrimental to public health.

The Federal Register notice detailing the change to the charter reads: "renewing the committee is in the public interest [and] essential to the conduct of agency business." The change to the charter came on schedule and will be valid until 1st April 2028.