Secretary Kennedy purges ACIP - a necessary step toward restoring trust - but pledges to exclude "anti-vaxxers" from advisory panel
By ljdevon // 2025-06-11
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In a move that has sent shockwaves through the public health establishment, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has dismissed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—a panel long accused of rubber-stamping vaccines while ignoring safety concerns, financial conflicts, and the devastating reality of vaccine injuries. Kennedy’s bold decision, hailed by medical freedom advocates as a long-overdue reckoning, has drawn furious backlash from pharmaceutical-aligned groups who claim the purge will "endanger public health." But as parents of vaccine-injured children and independent scientists cheer the dismantling of a corrupt system, one critical question remains: Will Kennedy replace these industry-tied advisors with truly independent experts—or merely repopulate the panel with new faces beholden to the same profit-driven agenda and ideological status quo? Key points:
  • Kennedy’s removal of all ACIP members marks a historic challenge to the CDC’s vaccine approval process, which has never rejected a vaccine—even those later pulled for safety risks.
  • Children’s Health Defense CEO Mary Holland applauds the move, citing ACIP’s history of financial conflicts and lack of scrutiny for cumulative vaccine effects on children.
  • Pharmaceutical-aligned groups, like the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Academy of Pediatrics, condemn the purge as "reckless," yet fail to address allegations of industry influence.
  • Vaccine stocks remain shaky as Merck and other manufacturers await the appointment of new ACIP members, whose recommendations directly impact billion-dollar vaccine mandates.
  • Despite claims of seeking "evidence-based" experts, Kennedy has ruled out appointing "anti-vaxxers" which would include parents of vaccine-injured children or unvaccinated families—voices that could expose the true cost of aggressive immunization schedules.

The ACIP’s rubber-stamp legacy: Profits over safety?

For decades, ACIP has operated as a de facto marketing arm for Big Pharma, approving every vaccine put before it—including those later withdrawn for causing seizures, narcolepsy, or Guillain-Barré syndrome. As Kennedy noted in his Wall Street Journal op-ed, the committee has never once said "no," even when safety data was glaringly absent. Dr. Meryl Nass, a veteran critic of vaccine policy corruption, told The Defender that ACIP’s unanimity is no accident: "The potential profits are simply too great for the pharmaceutical industry to not interfere." The committee’s 2018 recommendation of an adjuvanted flu vaccine—despite zero safety studies on its interaction with other shots—epitomizes its reckless deference to industry. Europe rejected the same vaccine over safety concerns, yet ACIP members voted "yes" in lockstep. "It goes to the heart of the absurdity of what ACIP has become," said Mary Holland. With members routinely holding patents, stock, or research grants tied to vaccine makers, their impartiality has long been a farce.

Medical groups panic as their influence crumbles

The backlash from establishment health groups has been swift—and revealing. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) called Kennedy’s move an "unmitigated public health disaster," while the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) insisted ACIP’s ousted members were "highly qualified." Yet neither addressed the elephant in the room: their own financial entanglements. As journalist Paul Thacker highlighted, the AAP has raked in millions from Pfizer and Moderna, while IDSA members routinely accept pharma funding for "expert" panels. Attorney Aaron Siri skewered the AAP’s hypocrisy: "When your funding depends on vaccine mandates, of course you’ll scream ‘disaster’ at any threat to the status quo." Meanwhile, Merck CEO Rob Davis nervously told investors the company is "waiting to see" who replaces ACIP—a telling admission of how deeply corporate interests rely on compliant advisors.

The missing voices: Parents and independent science

While Kennedy's gutting of ACIP is a necessary first step to restoring trust in public health policies, Kennedy’s pledge to appoint "credentialed scientists" instead of "anti-vaxxers" raises red flags. “We’re going to bring people onto the ACIP panel, not anti-vaxxers. We’re bringing people on who are credentialed scientists, who are highly credentialed physicians, who are going to do evidence-based medicine,” Kennedy responded when questioned about removing all 17 ACIP members. Why exclude parents whose children were injured by ACIP-recommended vaccines? These parents may not have scientific credentials, but their voice on the committee is most important at this time. Moreover, why silence families whose unvaccinated children thrive without chronic illnesses plaguing their vaccinated peers? True reform requires confronting uncomfortable truths: that today’s children receive up to 90 vaccine doses—none tested for cumulative effects—while autism, allergies, and autoimmune disorders skyrocket. Parents of healthy vaccinated kids may not be "credentialed scientists" but their voice is critical at this time, as their lives provide a blueprint for the rest of the country to follow. Moreover, vaccination should not be regarded synonymous with "immunization." Immunization practices recommended by ACIP should include greater knowledge - not just vaccine propaganda - while providing a broader understanding of how immune systems work, and why it's important to protect children from a barrage of toxins found in the current vaccine supply. As Nass warned, replacing ACIP members is "only a first step." Until the FDA’s corrupt approval pipeline and CDC’s conflicts are dismantled, "honest science does not have a chance." For millions of families betrayed by the vaccine-industrial complex, Kennedy’s purge is a start—but the fight for transparency is far from over. The truth about vaccines has the potential to dismantle the scientific consensus that has existed in the medical industrial complex for decades. Sources include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org WSJ.com X.com Researchgate.net
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