06/13/2025
Changes to the ACIP
On June 9, 2025, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the director of the U.S. Health and Human Services announced in a Washington Post Journal Op-Ed that he would be “retiring” all current members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to the CDC. In his op-ed, Mr. Kennedy asserted that past and present ACIP members are rife with conflicts of interest and that “a clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science.”
The ACIP is an independent committee of 17 physicians, nurses, and scientists who advise the CDC about new and existing vaccine recommendations based on extensive reviews of scientific evidence. Their conflicts of interest are made publicly available. Their deliberations are also public and transparent and include the domains of vaccine safety, disease burden, implementation cost, acceptability to the population, and public comment. Their decision making utilizes an explicit evidence-based method based on the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, and this data is also made publicly available. Typically, the CDC accepts the recommendations voted upon by the ACIP and implements these into policy. These policies comprise the CDC vaccine schedule, which also informs which vaccines are covered by public and private insurers and the Vaccines for Children Program.
Pediatricians and other healthcare providers have relied upon these processes and recommendations based upon their transparency and foundation in science. The very existence of an independent advisory committee of experts to policy makers is a safeguard that protects against politically or financially motivated vaccine policies. The removal and replacement of the ACIP disrupts this independent safeguard and undermines established evidence-based processes for making vaccine policy in the United States. The recent changes to COVID-19 vaccination policy for children and pregnant women without scientific justification similarly demonstrated disregard for transparency and scientific processes. The politicization of vaccine policy stands to further erode public confidence and public trust and will ultimately result in the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases and deaths.
A statement released by the president of the AAP states, “The American Academy of Pediatrics is deeply troubled and alarmed by Secretary Kennedy’s mass firing of all 17 experts on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. This unprecedented action, against the backdrop of contradictory announcements from the Administration in recent days about vaccines, will cause even more confusion and uncertainty for families.
“We are witnessing an escalating effort by the Administration to silence independent medical expertise and stoke distrust in lifesaving vaccines. Creating confusion around proven vaccines endangers families' health and contributes to the spread of preventable diseases. This move undermines the trust pediatricians have built over decades with our patients and leaves us without critical scientific expertise we rely on.
Children and families must be able to access the immunizations they need to stay healthy. Our vaccine infrastructure must include this critical step of nonpartisan, expert review and discussion of the science and clinical recommendations for individual vaccines. Families and children will be the ones to pay the price for this decision.”
The Georgia AAP continues to stand for transparent and science-based decision making for our patients and their families.
Nicola Chin, MD, FAAP
President
Georgia Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics
Christina A. Rostad, MD, FAAP
Chair - Committee on Infectious Diseases
Georgia Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics
Hugo Scornik, MD, FAAP
Chair - Public Health Task Force
Georgia Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics
Flavia Rossi, MD, FAAP
Chair - Communications & Media Committee
Georgia Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics
