Vaccine experts fired by Trump administration 'deeply concerned' by Robert Kennedy Jr.

Vaccination experts recently fired by Donald Trump's administration sounded the alarm in an editorial published Monday, June 16, saying they were "deeply concerned" by the actions of US Secretary of Health Robert Kennedy Jr., a well-known vaccine-sceptic.

Last week, the latter dismissed these seventeen members of a key advisory committee, accusing them of having financial conflicts of interest. Two days later, he announced the appointment of eight new members, including several disparaged individuals, such as a biochemist who is a darling of anti-vaxxers. This unprecedented measure was strongly criticized by the Democratic opposition as well as by several renowned health experts and bodies, who worried about an attack on medical expertise.

The seventeen former members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which advised the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), addressed this episode in an editorial published in the medical journal JAMA . "The abrupt dismissal of the entire ACIP membership (...) , the appointment of eight new ACIP members just two days later, and the recent reduction in CDC vaccine staff have left the U.S. immunization program severely weakened," they warn.

"These actions have deprived the program of the institutional knowledge and continuity that have been essential to its success for decades," they continue, also denouncing "recent changes in the Covid-19 vaccination policy" announced by the minister himself on social networks and which appear to "have circumvented the standard transparent and evidence-based review process."

"As former members of ACIP, we are deeply concerned that these destabilizing decisions, taken without clear justification, could set back the progress made by American vaccination policy," they conclude, pointing to the risk that these actions could ultimately "expose American families to dangerous diseases that could be prevented."

Robert Kennedy Jr. has in recent years promoted numerous conspiracy theories about Covid-19 vaccines and alleged links between vaccination and autism, notably through the Children's Health Defense organization he co-founded. Since taking over as Surgeon General in February, he has initiated a major overhaul of the health authorities.