Only a few days after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the CDC’s entire vaccine advisory panel, he named 8 new member, many of whom have expressed strong anti-vaccine views. Public health experts warn these hires do not possess the expertise necessary to perform their duties on the committee. In dismantling the 17-member panel, physicians and public health groups worried that Kennedy would install advisors willing to disregard well-established, evidence based policies in favor of aligned with Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stances.
The new appointees include individuals known for pushing misinformation about mRNA vaccines, masks, and other immunization related issues. Vicky Pebsworth, the regional director for the National Association of Catholic Nurses, is also board member for the National Vaccine Information Center, an organization criticized as a major spreader of vaccine misinformation.
Dr. Robert Malone, who previously conducted mRNA research, has been a top advisor of RFK Jr. Kennedy amid the ongoing measles outbreak. Malone operates a wellness institute and a blog and developed a following popularizing conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccines. For example, Malone claimed millions of Americans were hypnotized into getting the COVID-19 vaccine and that these shots lead to a type of AIDS. He has been an outspoken supporter of unproven alternative treatments for COVID and measles.
Public health experts warn these and other appointees lack the expertise to analyze complex scientific data presented to the committee. “The previous ACIP was made up of technical experts who have spent their lives studying vaccines,” said Dr. Abram Wagner of the University of Michigan school of public health. “Most people on the current list “don’t have the technical capacity that we would expect out of people who would have to make really complicated decisions involving interpreting complicated scientific data.”
Full Story: The Associated Press , NPR
