HHS releases new charter for vaccine committee

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rewrote the charter of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a move critics say could enable him to reduce vaccine access. The charter alters the committee’s focus from reviewing and recommending vaccines to weighing other ways to prevent disease. It redefines the qualifications to join the committee, which would allow Kennedy’s anti-vaccine appointees to continue to serve. Instead of requiring members to be vaccine experts, the charter says, “members shall collectively represent a balanced range of scientific, clinical and public health expertise relevant to the committee’s mission.” Several infectious disease organizations said the new charter would result in confusion and delays, threatening access to vaccines and evidence-based information. (CIDRAP article, 6/26/26)