STAT Kennedy’s CDC advisory panel, set to meet this month, has signaled change is likely, alarming advocates. Public health experts are bracing for what could be fundamental changes to childhood vaccine policies that don’t align with scientific consensus, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention undergoes a major leadership shakeup.
Last week, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted CDC director Susan Monarez after she refused his demand to approve all recommendations made by the agency’s vaccine advisory committee, whose members were handpicked by him. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, has since named one of his allies, former biotech investor Jim O’Neill, as acting director.