The Purge: First the Experts, Next the Vaccines?

RFK Jr has fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

You might not have heard of this Committee before but it’s important. These 17 independent scientific and medical experts make the final decisions on which vaccines are available to the public and on what schedule.

RFK Jr says they had “conflicts of interest”, but he doesn’t say what those are. My guess? Their conflicts of interest are that they are interested in public health, unlike RFK Jr who isn’t.

Unfortunately, this isn’t just a boring policy move. ACIP is scheduled to meet in less than 2 weeks, on June 25-27. And this meeting is an important one.

The Committee is scheduled to vote on recommendations for:

• COVID-19 vaccine schedules

• HPV vaccines

• Influenza vaccines

• RSV vaccines

• Specific recommendations for RSV in pregnant women

• Specific recommendations for each of these vaccines in children

If the meeting is going to happen as scheduled, then that means RFK Jr has 13 days to appoint new committee members. Odds are good that he will appoint people he already knows and trusts. People who are anti-vaccine and anti-science.

And it’s not just me that’s worried about this.

The Republican Senator from Louisiana, Bill Cassidy posted on twitter: “Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion.” Cassidy was a deciding vote in appointing RFK Jr.

Senator Bill Cassidy on Twitter/X June 9 2005

Who RFK Jr appoints to this committee will very likely determine whether or not you and your loved ones can get a flu vaccine or a COVID booster this fall.

It will determine whether pregnant women and young children can get the RSV vaccine.

And it will also determine whether your child can get the HPV vaccine. That vaccine prevents several types of cancer. Which means RFK Jr has less than two weeks to pick the 17 people who are going to decide whether our daughters get cervical cancer and our sons get penile cancer.

I don’t like to be alarmist, but this is a truly alarming moment.

If it feels alarming to you too, consider leaving a written comment here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/CDC-2025-0024-0001/comment . You have until June 20th.

And if you’re feeling brave about public speaking, you can put your name down for oral comments during the meeting. You can do that until June 20th, here: https://www2.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/acip_publiccomment.asp.

---

As an independent epidemiologist, I make my living entirely through reader support. Readers like you make E is for Epi possible. Thank you to all the paid subscribers. If you find value in this work, consider becoming a paid subscriber too!