Updated rules for CDC vaccine advisory panel reflect Kennedy skepticism
[April 10, 2026]
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has updated the charter of a
key federal vaccine advisory committee in ways that may increase the
voices of anti-vaccine activists, the latest in a series of moves that
critics say are undermining confidence in life-saving shots.
The changes published Thursday come after a recent legal defeat that has
at least temporarily halted meetings of the Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices, which for decades has recommended how best to
use the nation’s vaccines.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic,
ousted all the members of that committee soon after becoming the
nation’s top health official and replaced them with his own picks. The
revamped panel then declined to recommend COVID-19 vaccines even for
high-risk populations and voted to stop recommending most newborn
hepatitis B shots. Separately, under Kennedy, the administration also
narrowed the childhood vaccine schedule.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and other health groups sued to block
those steps and last month a federal judge agreed. The administration
has indicated it planned to appeal but has not yet done so.
The committee, known as ACIP, advises the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, which typically follows its recommendations. Those
recommendations, in turn, have long guided state vaccine requirements
for schools and whether health insurance covers the shots. Its charter —
essentially governing rules — is routinely renewed every two years with
little fanfare.
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 The new charter broadens
qualifications for panel members that would allow the inclusion of
Kennedy allies. While ACIP has long focused on vaccine safety, the
updated charter also echoes wording of vaccine critics about
focusing on possible harms, such as studying “gaps in vaccine safety
research” and considering “cumulative effects” of shots, which are
considered settled science. It would also have the panel consider
other countries’ vaccination schedules.
The changes reflect “a continued effort to do more of the same
things to undermine ACIP, undermine vaccine policy” and public
confidence, said Richard H. Hughes IV, an attorney representing the
AAP.
The charter’s renewal deadline coincided with the lawsuit
proceedings, but Hughes said it doesn’t resolve the legal challenge.
“The ACIP charter renewal and its publication are routine statutory
requirements and do not signal any broader policy shift,” said
Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon.
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