ACIP Open Letter From Vaccine Experts

June 26, 2025

To: The White House, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Members of Congress 

We, the undersigned, are former members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), former leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), former U.S. Surgeons General, and other public health leaders who have served in both Republican and Democratic administrations. We write to express grave concern about the June 9 dismissal of all 17 voting members of ACIP and the replacement of 8 voting members conducted outside the established nominative vetting process.

This sudden, unprecedented, and unsubstantiated action undermines the scientific integrity, credibility, and global leadership of U.S. public health and immunization policy. It threatens to politicize a process that has, for decades, earned bipartisan trust and safeguarded the health of the American people. It will further undermine the increasingly fragile trust Americans have in vaccine recommendations, threatening decades of progress against vaccine-preventable illnesses. We urge you to take immediate steps to restore an independent, expert-led ACIP and reaffirm the country’s commitment to science-driven, fact-based policy.

ACIP is not a regulatory agency and does not approve or authorize vaccines. It is a deliberative body housed within the CDC that issues recommendations on how FDA-approved or -authorized vaccines should be used across the U.S. population. ACIP’s guidance shapes recommended immunization schedules for children and adults, guides insurers on coverage, and serves as a bedrock of our public health infrastructure.

Traditionally, ACIP members have extensive experience in immunology, epidemiology, pediatrics, geriatrics, internal medicine, infectious disease, and public health. They are appointed through a rigorous federal process to vet credentials and identify and disclose real conflicts of interest and recuse members with conflicts from voting. They serve without pay. Their decisions follow a framework that balances vaccine safety and effectiveness, disease risk and burden, and implementation realities. All deliberations are public, livestreamed over video, transparent, and open to comment — a hallmark of American democratic governance and scientific integrity.

For over 60 years, ACIP has helped build one of the most successful vaccination programs in the world, preventing millions of hospitalizations and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, polio, and influenza. The committee's recommendations have served as a gold standard for both U.S. and global health institutions, acting as a model of transparency, rigor, and public accountability.

Dismissing the full committee with inaccurate justification abandons this model. The move has injected unnecessary instability into the national immunization program, sowed confusion among providers and patients, and invited distrust in the very system meant to protect us.

The abrupt termination of ACIP members comes at a time of increasing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles and whooping cough. Doing so without warning or a clear path forward weakens national readiness, puts American lives at risk, and endangers our international credibility and collaborations at a time when global health cooperation is more vital than ever.

We know first-hand that trust in public health is built slowly but can be eroded quickly. Disregarding long-standing norms by firing an entire advisory committee without cause sends a chilling message to scientists, clinicians, public health professionals, and the country at large: Expertise, experience, and evidence don’t matter.

This dangerous precedent threatens not only vaccines but the independence of scientific advice in all areas of health policymaking. That is not how a healthy, free country functions, particularly while striving to improve health for all.

We respectfully call on you to:

• Reaffirm the role of independent scientific expertise in health policymaking.

• Restore ACIP’s independent membership and reestablish its public trust.

• Ensure any future changes to the committee’s composition follow established federal processes, with transparency and accountability.

This moment requires a commitment to facts over fear, expertise over ideology, and your constituents’ health over politics. The American people deserve no less.

We appreciate your time and attention to this critical concern and stand ready to support efforts that strengthen trust in our public health institutions.

Signed,

Alan A. Harris, MD

Allison Kempe, MD, MPH

Art Jones, MD

Arthur Reingold

Audrey Li, MD

Beverly Sha, MD

Boris D Lushniak, MD, MPH

Camille Nelson Kotton, MD

Charlotte A. Moser

Christine W. Lucky, MD, MPH

David C. Nguyen

Emmanuel Walter, MD, MPH

Eric Bhaimia, DO

Harold A. Kessler, MD

Jamie Loehr, MD

Janelle Brown Bratsch, MD

Jeanny K. Park, MD

Joshua Barocas

Julie Vaishampayan, MD, MPH

Karen A. Hudson, MD

Katherine Hsu

Kenneth M Boyer, MD

Lance Chilton, MD

Laura Riley, MD

Malika Gill, MD

Mariam Aziz

Mary Hayden, MD

Maureen McNichols, RN, MSN

Nicholas M. Moore, PhD, D(ABMM)

Paul Hunter, MD

Paul A. Offit, MD

Paul Pottinger, MD

Rachel Bender Ignacio, MD, MPH

Robert A. Weinstein, MD

Stefan Gravenstein, MD

Stefan Green

Supriya Mehta

William Clapp, MD

William H. Foege, MD

 Yukari C. Manabe, MD