ACIP was scheduled to hold a meeting from Feb. 26-28 in Atlanta, but the CDC’s webpage for the committee stated it had been postponed to “accommodate public comment in advance of the meeting.”
No new date for the meeting was provided. This move comes just one week after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, was confirmed as health and human services secretary.
Soon after the change was announced, a coalition of health care groups released a letter calling for the meeting to still be held. Groups that signed included the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Medical Association and the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease.
“ACIP had a full agenda of critical, vaccine-related decisions, including discussion linked to deadly illnesses like meningococcal disease. There is great benefit to Americans in a prompt rescheduling,” they wrote.
Some cast doubt over the motivations to move the meeting.
“The pretext is that the comment period ahead of the meeting was closed. Reading between the lines — this is the beginning of likely many deliberate actions to undermine the work of the committee and upset the 'status quo,'" Richard H. Hughes IV, a health lawyer and partner at Epstein, Becker & Green, said in a statement.
Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said he feared the postponement was a first step toward implementing a key Project 2025 recommendation.
The conservative think tank document, drafted as a blueprint for a Trump second term, recommends prohibiting the CDC from making guidance on vaccines, especially on vaccine requirements for schools.
Kennedy has long been critical of ACIP, alleging the panel is corrupting HHS’s priorities due to conflicts of interest. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Kennedy said 97 percent of ACIP members had conflicts of interest.
Panel members are vetted and must file disclosure reports.
