We’re about to find out what it means for public health to have one of the nation’s leading vaccine skeptics driving the country’s health policy.
The Department of Health and Human Services, headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., just approved an unprecedented overhaul of the childhood immunization schedule, cutting the number of vaccines routinely recommended for all children from 17 to 11. Long-standing vaccines, including those for hepatitis A and B, rotavirus and meningitis, are no longer recommended. Remember, recommended doesn’t mean mandated. The sharp break from decades of public-health consensus risks restricting access to vaccines and increasing the burden of preventable diseases.
The overhaul was months in the making. Last summer, Kennedy abruptly fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which reviews the scientific evidence to help determine which vaccines should be covered by insurers and federal health programs. He replaced them with his handpicked roster, some of whom had little or no healthcare background or vaccine expertise.
Kennedy’s mass firing was widely condemned by medical experts. For example, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases published an “alarm” signed by 23 medical associations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Pharmacists Association.
Doctors’ concerns were justified. In the months since, the panel’s chaotic meetings and departures from long-standing vaccine practices have created widespread confusion over vaccine safety and efficacy, and over the ACIP’s ability to craft vaccine recommendations at all.
The committee struggled to cast a vote on the hepatitis B vaccine for months before dropping its recommendation for the shot in December. In September, the committee reversed a decision it had made the day before, with the ACIP chair acknowledging, “We are rookies.”
Meetings have been characterized by a lack of data and decorum — at one point, one panelist was caught calling a colleague “an idiot.”
The turmoil has grown so intense that independent physicians and scientific groups are now stepping in to provide reliable vaccine information. For example, the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy just launched its Vaccine Integrity Project, to “help ensure safe US vaccine use” at a time when “the system that (the United States has) relied on to make vaccine recommendations and to review safety and effectiveness data faces threats.”
ACIP and Kennedy’s actions clearly undermine science. For generations, routine vaccinations have shielded American families from dangerous diseases such as polio and measles, largely eliminating both from the United States. Under Kennedy, measles is back, and some are concerned that polio could return!
Childhood immunizations are expected to save more than a million lives among children born between 1994 and 2023. These vaccines have been rigorously studied, extensively monitored, and consistently proven safe and effective.
The recent shift is also fundamentally at odds with the Republican approach to vaccines. Conservatives have consistently defended Americans’ right to choose whether to be vaccinated. Everyone should be able to make an informed decision about their health and their children’s health. No one who does not want a vaccine should be forced to get one. Those who want vaccines should have uncomplicated, reliable access.
That balance — respecting personal freedom while making health tools available — has been central to the Republican Party’s position for years.
President Trump’s first term reflected this. He rejected massive shutdowns and mandates during the pandemic. His administration also launched Operation Warp Speed, the most ambitious public-private partnership for vaccine development in history. The effort delivered COVID-19 vaccines in record time and saved hundreds of thousands of lives during its first years of rollout.
During Kennedy’s confirmation hearings, Republican senators secured a clear commitment from him: He would protect access to vaccines for those who choose them. Now, he is breaking that promise. Senators who accepted his assertion and cast a yes vote now look like chumps.
If Kennedy continues down this path, he will jeopardize decades of progress that have kept American families safe from preventable diseases. It’s time for HHS to restore stability, reaffirm the scientific standards that once guided ACIP, and honor the promise Kennedy made to Congress and the American people.