White House updates vaccine panel rules to reflect Kennedy skepticism

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has published updated rules for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee, a change critics said is designed to increase the influence of anti-vaccine activists in a process they argue can shape public health decisions.

The changes published Thursday revise the charter for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, known as ACIP. Critics said the revisions could undermine confidence in vaccines, in what they described as part of a broader series of steps affecting life-saving immunizations.

The charter updates came after a recent legal defeat that at least temporarily halted ACIP meetings. The committee is the federal body that, for decades, has recommended how best to use vaccines, and the CDC has typically followed those recommendations, which in turn can influence state vaccine requirements for schools and whether health insurance covers particular shots.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, previously ousted ACIP members shortly after becoming the nation’s top health official and replaced them with his own picks, according to the Associated Press. After the replacements, the revamped panel voted against recommending COVID-19 vaccines even for high-risk populations and voted to stop recommending most newborn hepatitis B shots, the AP reported. The administration also narrowed the childhood vaccine schedule under Kennedy.

In the most recent legal challenge, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other health groups sued to block the administration’s steps, and a federal judge agreed last month. The administration indicated it planned to appeal but had not yet done so as of the report. The ACIP charter renewal deadline coincided with the lawsuit proceedings, Richard H. Hughes IV, an attorney representing the AAP, said the renewal did not resolve the legal challenge.

Hughes said the ACIP charter renewal and its publication are routine and does not signal a broader policy shift, while he argued the updated charter reflects what he characterized as an effort to undermine ACIP and vaccine policy and public confidence. “The ACIP charter renewal and its publication are routine statutory requirements and do not signal any broader policy shift,” Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon said, according to the AP.

The updated charter broadens qualifications for panel members, which would allow the inclusion of Kennedy allies, the AP reported. It also reflects language from vaccine critics, including a focus on possible harms and terms described as “gaps in vaccine safety research” and “cumulative effects” of shots—wording critics use even as such issues are described as settled science.

The charter also adds that ACIP consider other countries’ vaccination schedules. Nixon said the timing and publication of the charter renewal were standard statutory requirements and did not amount to a shift in policy, the AP reported.

As this charter change proceeds alongside the court case over the administration’s earlier vaccine actions, ACIP’s renewed operating rules could determine who sits on the panel and what kinds of evidence and scheduling frameworks the committee will consider going forward.