Democratic political strategist David Axelrod on Friday condemned changes Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made to a key vaccine advisory committee.
Kennedy earlier this week fired all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replaced them with eight of his own picks, a significant downsizing for the independent, expert panel that provides guidance on vaccine recommendations. Some of the eight are known for spreading vaccine misinformation.
“This is a genuine catastrophe in the making,” Axelrod said in a post on the social platform X.
“Vaccines have eradicated diseases that ravaged mankind since the beginning of recorded history. Now one twisted ideologue in a position of power threatens to take us backward. God help us all!” he added.
Kennedy has lauded the new ACIP appointees as a team of educated and capable advisers.
“The slate includes highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America’s most accomplished physicians. All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense,” he wrote in a post on X.
The new members are set to meet June 25 to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine in addition to reviewing safety and efficacy data for the current immunization schedule.
Kennedy has frequently promoted vaccine misinformation prior to taking on his Cabinet role and recently ended the CDC’s recommendation that pregnant people and healthy children receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Critics have railed against the secretary for rushing to usher in a new standard for vaccines post-pandemic amid a nationwide measles outbreak.
“These actions collectively restrict access to a vital tool for saving lives and undermine confidence in our health systems,” former Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served in the Trump administration from 2017-21, wrote in an op-ed published by Time.
“The major flaw in the new vaccine framework is its narrow assessment of risk. Although the immediate dangers of COVID-19 have lessened, it remains a leading cause of death and hospitalization, claiming nearly 50,000 lives in the U.S. in 2024 — more than breast cancer or car accidents,” he added.
Kennedy himself said his views on vaccines were “irrelevant” while testifying at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on May 14.
“I don’t want to seem like I’m being evasive, but I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me,” he told lawmakers, after being asked whether he would vaccinate his own children today against measles.
