![[CREDIT: CDC] HHS Sec. Robert Kennedy Jr., who contributed to anti-vaccine sentiment allowing a measles outbreak that killed two children, has fired all its CDC vaccine advisors.](https://e8dgfhu6pow.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/CDC-vaccine-advisors-measles-outbreak.png?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1)
![[CREDIT: CDC] HHS Sec. Robert Kennedy Jr., who contributed to anti-vaccine sentiment allowing a measles outbreak that killed two children, has fired all CDC vaccine advisors.](https://e8dgfhu6pow.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/CDC-vaccine-advisors-measles-outbreak.png?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1)
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Jack Reed is urging Republican Congressmen to stand up for their constituents and work with Democrats to hold HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accountable for clearing out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine advisors.
Monday, Kennedy dismissed all 17 of the medical and public health experts on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) — including pediatricians, epidemiologists and geriatricians — who make recommendations about who should get certain vaccines, including the schedule for childhood vaccinations. He said he would appoint new members to the body.
Kennedy’s vaccination opposition wavered as Measles outbreak killed children
Kennedy, who spent 20 years sowing disinformation about vaccines, offered mixed messages about vaccination as a 2025 Texas measles outbreak killed a child. He said the measles vaccine was the “most effective way” to prevent measles after a second child died. Monday, Kennedy said the ACIP dismissals were partisan — all were appointed by former President Joe Biden — and would “restore public trust”.
“A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science,” Kennedy said in a statement announcing the dismissals on the federal Health and Human Services website.
Kennedy, Anti-Vaccination Sentiment Increased Chances of Measles Outbreak
The outbreak in Texas was the likely outcome of anti-science, anti-vaccination sentiment Kennedy helped spread. During the 2022–23 school year, vaccination coverage remained near 93 percent for all reported vaccines, ranging from 92.7 percent for DTaP to 93.1 percent for measles, mumps, and rubella and polio, according to the CDC.
In Texas, measles vaccination rates fell to 94.3 percent, according to an October 2024 CDC report. According to the journal Elsevier, “Measles elimination hinges on vaccination coverage remaining above 95% to retain sufficient community protection.” In Rhode Island, the measles vaccination rate is 97.1 percent.
The CDC recently reported that routine childhood vaccinations in America have prevented over 1.1 million deaths, more than 500 million cases of illness and more than 32 million hospitalizations over the past 30 years.
Among kindergarten students, CDC reports, vaccination coverage is declining as vaccine exemptions increase, setting the stage for accumulation of clusters of under-vaccinated children, which can lead to outbreaks. Exemption greater than 5 percent of the population limit the level of achievable vaccination coverage, increasing the risk for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
“These shifts underscore the importance of immunization programs, schools, and providers in ensuring that children are fully vaccinated before school entry,” according to the CDC.
Reed: Trump Admin’s Vaccine Advisors Firings Threaten Americans’ Health
“Secretary Kennedy’s unfounded, personal anti-vaxxer views are hazardous to public health and he is making this reckless move based on ideology and conspiracy theories, not sound evidence. The Trump Administration is removing trusted, accomplished, independent experts on ACIP and will likely replace them with ideologues who parrot Kennedy’s misconceptions and conspiracy theories about vaccines. This move is sure to increase vaccine-preventable outbreaks and endanger people’s lives. The most vulnerable Americans, including unvaccinated infants, immunocompromised individuals, and older Americans are most likely to suffer from this ill-conceived directive.
“I urge my Republican colleagues to speak up on behalf of their constituents and work with Democrats to hold this Administration accountable for breaking its promises and degrading public health.”
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