RFK Jr. rewrites rules on CDC panel after judge blocks vaccine changes

Key Points:

• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has revised the membership rules for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) after a judge ruled most of his previous appointees unqualified and halted their decisions.
• The ACIP advises the CDC on vaccine use and had been central to Kennedy’s efforts to reshape U.S. vaccine policy, but a federal judge found the panel’s reconstitution violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
• The updated charter broadens eligibility criteria for panel members, now including specialists in biostatistics and toxicology, expanding beyond the previous focus on vaccine research and immunization expertise.
• Critics, including former ACIP members and the Informed Consent Action Network, have expressed differing views on the qualifications of the new members, with some defending their expertise despite the court ruling.
• The Department of Health and Human Services described the charter renewal as routine, and the administration has not yet decided whether to appeal the judge’s decision within the allowed timeframe.