RFK Jr. says federal vaccine advisers are beholden to industry. The evidence does not support him
In his maiden speech to department employees on 18 February, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a vow about advisers to HHS agencies: “We will remove conflicts of interest on the committees and research partners whenever possible.” Since then, reports have surfaced that Kennedy, who has campaigned for decades against generally safe and effective vaccines, is preparing to remove experts from a linchpin vaccine committee, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the body that recommends which vaccines people in the United States should take, and when. In an email sent to a potential candidate for the committee, physician and public health researcher Jeffrey Klausner of the University of Southern California wrote that Kennedy “is looking for highly credible individuals not conflicted...