The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken a decisive step to restore public confidence by fully reconstituting the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP). This committee advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the safety, efficacy, and clinical ‘need’ for vaccines.
Under the direction of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., all 17 sitting ACIP members were removed and will be replaced with new members who are currently being considered.
“Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,” Secretary Kennedy said. “The public must know that unbiased science—evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest—guides the recommendations of our health agencies.”
Following President Trump’s Restoring Gold Standard Science executive order, the new ACIP members will ensure government scientific activities rely on the most credible, reliable, and impartial scientific evidence.
All 17 former ACIP members were appointed by the Biden administration, with 13 appointed in 2024. These appointments would have blocked the current administration from forming a majority on the committee until 2028. The previous administration is accused of securing public health positions to limit the incoming administration’s ability to rebuild public trust in vaccines.
“A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science,” Kennedy said. “ACIP’s 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. The entire world once looked to American health regulators for guidance, inspiration, scientific impartiality, and unimpeachable integrity. Public trust has eroded. Only through radical transparency and gold standard science, will we earn it back.”
The ACIP will hold its next meeting from June 25 through June 27 at CDC headquarters in Atlanta.
