Anti-vaccine advocate and current Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to social media Wednesday to announce the names of eight people he is appointing to a critical federal vaccine advisory committee—which is currently empty after Kennedy abruptly fired all 17 previous members Monday.
In the past, the vetting process for appointing new members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) could take years. But Kennedy has taken just two days.
The panel, typically stocked with vaccine, infectious disease, and public health experts, carefully and publicly reviews, analyzes, and debates vaccine data and offers recommendations to the CDC