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June 25, 2025

RFK Jr. replaces all 17 CDC vaccine advisors with conspiracy theorists

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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RFK Jr. fires independent vaccine experts, installs anti-vaccine advocates

On Jun. 25, 2025, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

RFK Jr. replaced the 17 independent medical experts—pediatricians, infectious disease specialists, and public health experts—with 8 new appointees, several known for vaccine skepticism.

ACIP’s original role was to review vaccine safety and efficacy data and provide evidence-based recommendations for American children and adults.

Before widespread immunization programs guided by ACIP recommendations, diseases like measles, polio, and whooping cough caused thousands of American childhood deaths each year.

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Q1

What did RFK Jr. do to the CDC's vaccine advisory committee in June 2025?

Q2

What kind of experts made up the original CDC vaccine advisory committee that RFK Jr. fired?

Q3

How do RFK Jr.'s new vaccine committee appointees likely differ from the fired experts?

Q4

How do pediatricians typically make vaccine recommendations to parents?

Q5

What is the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and why was it important?

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What you can do

1

Track ACIP membership and recommendations directly on CDC’s official site (cdc.gov/vaccines/acip) to monitor any policy changes.

2

Use Congress’s official directory (congress.gov) to find and contact your U.S. Representatives and Senators if you wish to express support for evidence-based advisory processes.

3

Consult the American Academy of Pediatrics (aap.org) and WHO immunization fact sheets (who.int) for current, science-backed vaccine guidance.

4

Sign up for public-health or legislative alerts (e.g., via HHS or congress.gov) to stay informed about proposed rules or bills affecting vaccine policy.