American Families for Vaccines: Congress Must Remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — ACIP’s Dysfunction Is Endangering Public Health
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2025
Contact: Caitlin Gilmet | 207-776-7648
American Families for Vaccines: Congress Must Remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — ACIP’s Dysfunction Is Endangering Public Health
Portland, ME — Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has shown himself unfit to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Congress must act now to remove him from office. This week’s meetings of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) were yet another display of incompetence, confusion, and reckless disregard for public health.
Instead of providing science-based guidance, ACIP under Kennedy delivered chaos:
Hepatitis B: The committee declined to take up a vote on the critical birth dose, postponing action until a future meeting. While the birth dose remains recommended and covered, ACIP’s inaction injects needless uncertainty into a vaccine that prevents lifelong illness, cirrhosis, liver failure, and cancer.
COVID-19: Members debated restricting vaccines to only adults over 75 and those with certain medical conditions. They ultimately voted to change the recommendations to “shared clinical decision making,” leaving it unclear exactly how Americans will access our COVID-19 vaccines this season. A proposal to recommend that COVID vaccines require a prescription was voted down in a split 6-6 vote, with the committee chair casting the tie breaking vote.
MMRV: After first declining to recommend the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccine (MMRV) for children under four, ACIP returned today and voted to exclude it from coverage under the Vaccines for Children program. This reversal further narrows access and leaves families and providers with more confusion, not clarity.
“This is a political show, not a public-health process,” said Northe Saunders, President of American Families for Vaccines. “When the people in charge don’t know how the system works, they don’t just make bad policy — they create a cascade of harm that states, clinics, and families will struggle to clean up. ACIP is supposed to be the control tower for vaccine guidance; this week, instead of guidance, we saw confusion. Congress must restore competence and remove Secretary Kennedy before more damage is done.”
Dr. Laura Blaisdell, MD, MPH, FAAP, pediatrician and founding member of American Families for Vaccines, highlighted the real-world consequences: “Every day I meet with parents who rely on pediatricians to protect their children. Tinkering with the hepatitis B birth dose or narrowing COVID vaccine access is not just policy — it’s a direct threat to children and families. We all remember how devastating COVID was: packed hospitals, loved ones lost, lives disrupted. Why on earth would we walk back into that world just because a handful of anti-science zealots have hijacked our vaccine systems and are holding protection hostage? RFK Jr. does not belong in our exam rooms.”
American Families for Vaccines stands with trusted medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, ACOG, and AAFP, in demanding restoration of evidence-based guidance. But no coalition of advocates can succeed while Kennedy remains in power.
Our nation cannot afford a vaccine system run by politics instead of science. Every day Kennedy remains in office, he erodes trust, undermines access, and puts lives at risk. Congress must remove him now.