US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired all the members of a vaccine advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



The US Department of Health and Human Services announced on Monday that it removed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.



In a statement from the HHS, Kennedy said "A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science". It said the Biden administration appointed all of the 17 sitting ACIP members.



ACIP is comprised of outside experts including doctors and researchers who decide on whether to push forward vaccines to the CDC based on scientific data. The CDC chief makes the final call of whether to recommend the use of vaccines.
ACIP recommended the use of vaccines for COVID-19.



The Infectious Diseases Society of America said "Secretary Kennedy's allegations about the integrity of CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices are completely unfounded and will have a significant negative impact on Americans of all ages."



The IDSA added that "Scientific recommendations about infectious diseases and vaccines that the public can trust require established experts to make them."