June 9, 2025
RFK Jr. replaces all 17 CDC vaccine advisors with 8 vaccine critics
Kennedy fires 17 CDC vaccine advisors, installs critics who end childhood COVID shots
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On Jun. 9, 2025, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 sitting members of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the first full-panel dismissal since ACIP founding in 1964.
Two days later, Kennedy appointed eight new members: Dr. Robert Malone, Martin Kulldorff, Retsef Levi, Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, Dr. Cody Meissner, Dr. Michael Ross, Dr. James Pagano, and Vicky Pebsworth.
The eight appointees left ACIP below its 19-member chartered size. Kulldorff became chair before moving to HHS Chief Science Officer in Dec. 2025.
Dr. Robert Malone did early mRNA delivery research in the late 1980s but became a prominent vaccine critic, appearing on Joe Rogan podcast and having his Twitter account suspended for spreading false vaccine allegations.
Vicky Pebsworth served on the board of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), which NewsGuard rates 17.5/100 for trust and Media Bias/Fact Check calls a quackery-level anti-vaccination organization.
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) revealed that Kennedy had assured him during confirmation he would maintain the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes.
The American Medical Association passed an emergency resolution on Jun. 10, 2025, calling for the Senate HELP Committee to investigate Kennedy actions.
On Sep. 19, 2025, the reconstituted ACIP unanimously voted to change COVID-19 vaccination from a routine recommendation to shared clinical decision-making, meaning doctors may vaccinate rather than should vaccinate.
Under Kennedy HHS, routine COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women were removed from CDC schedules in May 2025 before ACIP even met to vote on the changes.
📋Public Policy✊Civil Rights📰Media Literacy
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Q1
What does ACIP stand for in the context of vaccine policy?
Q2
How many CDC vaccine advisory committee members did RFK Jr. remove on June 9, 2025?
Q3
Which Republican senator said RFK Jr. had promised not to change ACIP during confirmation proceedings?
Q4
How many new members did RFK Jr. initially name to replace the 17 dismissed ACIP members?
Q5
Which controversial figure did RFK Jr. appoint to the new vaccine advisory committee?
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
HHS Secretary
Dr. Robert Malone
ACIP appointee
Martin Kulldorff
ACIP Chair (Jun.-Dec. 2025)
Vicky Pebsworth
ACIP appointee, NVIC board member
Dr. Cody Meissner
ACIP appointee, pediatric infectious disease
Dr. Paul Offit
Former ACIP member, vaccine expert
Senator Bill Cassidy
U.S. Senator (R-LA), physician