By Julie Steenhuysen and Ahmed Aboulenein
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chosen seven new members for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s panel of vaccine experts, an internal CDC document showed on Wednesday.
The Department of Health and Human Services has directed the CDC to name the new members to its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, according to the document, which was seen by Reuters.
Inside Medicine, a Substack blog, reported on the new ACIP members earlier on Wednesday.
Kennedy fired all 17 members of the panel in June and replaced them with eight hand-picked advisers, though one has since left the panel. The move by Kennedy, a longtime critic of vaccines, raised concerns about whether the panel’s independence in vaccine recommendations might be compromised.
Among the seven prospective members named in the document is Dr. Raymond Pollak, a semi-retired transplant surgeon with a background in immunology who confirmed he has been asked to serve on the panel.
“I’m being considered pending the vetting process. If I was offered the position, I would think carefully about it,” he said.
Others include Dr. Joseph Fraiman, an emergency medicine specialist in New Orleans; Dr. John Gaitanis, a pediatric neurologist; Catherine Stein, an epidemiology professor; Hillary Blackburn, a pharmacist; and Dr. Evelyn Griffin, an obstetrician-gynecologist. None could be reached for comment.
Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist, referred calls to the Department of Health and Human Services.
An HHS spokesperson declined to comment.
The ACIP is a panel of outside advisers to the CDC who deliberate and vote on who should receive vaccines and on what schedule after approval by the Food and Drug Administration. ACIP recommendations are used by insurance companies as a basis for coverage.
The group is expected to meet on September 18, and could vote on shots for hepatitis B, measles-mumps-rubella-varicella and respiratory syncytial virus, according to the Federal Register.
Typically, the CDC director has final approval on their recommendations. Last week, however, CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired after resisting changes to vaccine policy that were advanced by Kennedy.
Through a spokesperson, Monarez said she was asked to rubber stamp the committee’s recommendations. Her firing sparked the resignations of three top CDC officials, who cited anti-vaccine policies pushed by Kennedy.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington; Editing by Nia Williams and Lisa Shumaker)
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