By House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Democrats are demanding a briefing with staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s newly remade vaccine advisory panel.
Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (Calif.) sent a letter Thursday to CDC chief of staff Matthew Buzzelli expressing concerns about the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
The Democrats called for a briefing with CDC staff by Thursday, July 17, and certain information and documents by Thursday, July 24.
They said they want more information about how the seven new members of the panel were selected, “whether their decisions align with science, and what potential conflicts of interest may be compromising our public health system.”
Kennedy last month removed all 17 members of the panel just weeks before a scheduled meeting, arguing they were too close to the pharmaceutical industry and their conflicts of interest meant they routinely greenlighted vaccines without giving them appropriate scrutiny.
“A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science,” Kennedy wrote in an op-ed announcing the changes.
During the remade panel’s first meeting, members announced plans to review long-standing childhood vaccination schedules, voted not to approve some flu vaccines with thimerosal despite numerous studies showing it is safe, and “prioritized anti-vaccine activists over agency experts,” the lawmakers said.
Garcia and Krishnamoorthi also expressed concern about the panel’s decision not to vote on recommendations for an updated COVID-19 vaccine before the fall, despite the vote initially being listed on the agenda.
“As this newly politicized ACIP moves to block flu vaccines, elevate anti-vax voices, and question well-established childhood immunization schedules, the American people are demanding answers,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter comes the same week major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, filed a lawsuit against Kennedy over what they said were “unlawful, unilateral vaccine changes.”