1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should resign from his position as Secretary of Health and Human Services immediately. His actions in removing all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are deeply concerning and threaten public health. The ACIP is a crucial panel of independent medical and public health experts who provide evidence-based recommendations on vaccine policy. Dismissing the entire committee raises fears that vaccine skeptics will be appointed, undermining trust in vaccines proven to save millions of lives. Under Kennedy, the CDC has already stopped recommending routine Covid-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women, as well as canceling programs to research new vaccines against future pandemics. Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine activist, claims a "clean sweep" is needed to restore public confidence in vaccine science, but his actions will likely have the opposite effect. Vaccines are one of the greatest public health achievements, and the public deserves to have immunization policies guided by science rather than driven by conspiracy theories or ideology. Removing respected experts from the ACIP puts politics over objective analysis and jeopardizes the health of all Americans.