Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is removing all 17 members of a key advisory committee that helps craft vaccine policy and recommendations for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kennedy made the announcement on Monday afternoon in a press release from the Department of Health and Human Services and an opinion piece published by The Wall Street Journal.
In his role as head of HHS, Kennedy has the legal authority to replace members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), but the decision to scrap the entire committee flies in the face of precedent and has alarmed the public health and medical establishment.
"A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science," Kennedy said in a statement, "ACIP new members will prioritize public health and evidence-based medicine. The Committee will no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas."
Medical groups were quick to issue statements denouncing the move.
The American Medical Association said Kennedy's decision undermines "trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives." The president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America called the allegation about the integrity of the committee "completely unfounded."
Kennedy has previously claimed that ACIP members have serious conflicts of interests.
However, as NPR has reported, a government report he has cited to back that up shows they do not. In addition, committee members are required to disclose if they have any conflicts of interest before casting a vote and recuse themselves if they have one.
Past members of ACIP warn that gutting the current committee removes an important check on changes in the administration's approach to vaccine policy.
Dr. Jonathan Temte, who served as chair from 2012 to 2015, told NPR that "across the entire world, ACIP has been the paragon of solid, well thought out, evidence-based vaccine policy."
"I hate to say this, but we are heading in the direction of U.S. vaccine policy becoming the laughing stock of the globe," said Temte, a professor of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin.
Given Kennedy's history of leading an anti-vaccine advocacy group, public health experts and members of Congress have worried about what could happen to the committee under Kennedy's watch.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician and Republican representing Louisiana, cast a critical vote to advance Kennedy's nomination, saying he had assurances that Kennedy would maintain ACIP's recommendations "without changes."
It's not yet clear who Kennedy will tap to fill the now-vacant seats on the committee, though he said new members are already under consideration.
The outside experts make recommendations for the agency's vaccine schedule for children and adults, and help determine which vaccines get covered by health insurance and the Vaccines for Children Program.
ACIP will convene its next meeting on June 25 at CDC headquarters.
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