U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accused members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of having "numerous" conflicts of interest. The official fired them, promising to replace them with his own staff. This was reported by the Associated Press, reports UNN.
Details
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is the most important scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the use of vaccines.
His decision has drawn criticism from various political and governmental groups in the United States who believe that such a decision could jeopardize the future use of vaccines in the States. Leading doctors in the country have condemned the decision to remove all 17 members of the commission.
President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives and former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tom Frieden accused Kennedy of "politicizing" the Advisory Committee, warning that this could undermine public trust, built up over years of commitment and hard work.
We will look back on this as a serious mistake that sacrificed decades of scientific rigor, undermined public trust and opened the door to fringe theories rather than facts.
But Kennedy insists that the decision was made reasonably, as several members of the Committee had many conflicts of interest while in office.
Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices are required by law to declare any potential conflicts, as well as business interests that arise during their tenure. They must also report potential conflicts at the beginning of each public meeting.
Although this Committee is not usually seen as partisan, all of its members were appointed by Biden.
The Secretary of Health said in his Wall Street Journal article that the Trump administration could not appoint new members until 2028 without removing the current members. And now he has an open way to implement this task.
Recall
Earlier, the administration of US President Donald Trump terminated the contract for $590 million with Moderna for the development of a vaccine against avian influenza. The US government abandoned the development of a vaccine against this virus.