The news: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced the CDC’s influential vaccine advisory board with 8 new members, including some anti-vaccine advocates. He announced the news on X. 

Why it matters: Kennedy eked out Senate approval to become the HHS chief by promising not to change the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Critics were concerned he would lean back into his longstanding anti-vaccine ideology and install like-minded officials. 

On Monday, he fired all 17 members of ACIP, which was established in 1964 as an independent board of medical experts to offer CDC immunization advice on age groups, number of doses and schedules.

The new panel includes several vaccine critics.

• Dr. Robert Malone is a well-known anti-vaccine advocate who promoted COVID-19 vaccine misinformation during the pandemic. He was permanently suspended from Twitter in 2021, but reinstated in late 2022 under then-new owner Elon Musk. Malone is currently an expert witness in a case against Merck about its mumps vaccine claim and said he intends to continue his role, per his post on X.
• Other members Dr. Martin Kulldorff, Retsef Levi and Vicky Pebsworth have questioned vaccine safety or aligned with organizations that do.
• A fifth member, pediatric physician Dr. Cody Meissner, agreed with Kennedy’s decision in late May to remove children and pregnant women from COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. He said the previous ACIP advice was based on politics, per a Reuters article at the time.  

Zooming out: The American Medical Association (AMA) passed an emergency resolution calling for a Senate investigation into the ACIP firings. AMA also said it plans to invest in and adopt alternative advisory structures if necessary. 

Other healthcare associations and medical groups, including the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, and the Alliance for Aging Research, also issued statements criticizing the dismissals.

What’s next: Vaccine makers are mostly staying quiet.

• Merck plans to see how the changes play out, CEO Rob Davis said at the Goldman Sachs healthcare conference on Tuesday, per CNBC. Merck’s infant vaccine for RSV won FDA approval on Monday, but will face the new CDC vaccine panel later this month for recommendations and scheduling.
• The new group is also expected to vote on guidance for COVID-19 and flu vaccines for both adults and children for the fall season. Stocks of vaccine makers Merck, GSK, Sanofi, Pfizer and Novavax all went up on Thursday morning, with only Moderna trending slightly down.