Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr tapped five new members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s outside vaccine advisory panel, just days ahead of its next meeting.
Kennedy in May fired every member of the panel and handpicked their replacements, most of whom have criticized coronavirus vaccines and other shots.
The latest members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices include people who have been critical of the COVID-19 vaccine and who have pushed back on coronavirus vaccine mandates, as well as someone who promoted ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19.
The panel is set to meet Thursday and Friday in Atlanta and is expected to vote on softening or eliminating recommendations related to COVID-19 vaccines and routine shots on the pediatric vaccine schedule, including a combination shot for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, as well as hepatitis B vaccines.
The list of names was first made public by Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston who writes the “Inside Medicine” Substack.
“ACIP safeguards the health of Americans by issuing objective, evidence-based vaccine recommendations,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Its new members bring diverse expertise that strengthens the committee and ensures it fulfills its mission with transparency, independence, and gold-standard science.”
ACIP recommendations must be approved by the CDC director before they are official. Earlier this month, Kennedy ousted the director of the CDC, Susan Monarez, just weeks after she was sworn in. Monarez said she refused to “rubber stamp” the committee’s decisions.
Catherine Stein
Stein is an infectious disease epidemiology professor and tuberculosis researcher at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. During the height of the pandemic in early 2021, Stein downplayed its severity and argued Ohio’s official COVID-19 dashboard inflated the number of deaths.
She testified in state legislative committees against COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and wrote an article arguing against their use in universities.
Kirk Milhoan
Milhoan is a pediatric cardiologist and a senior fellow at the Independent Medical Alliance, According to his bio on the organization’s website, Milhoan is “dedicated to treating patients affected by … vaccine-related cardiovascular toxicity due to the spike protein.”
The group has promoted ivermectin as a coronavirus treatment, which has been proven by clinical trials to not be effective. Milhoan authored a paper that claimed the mRNA vaccines led to more cases of the heart condition myocarditis than the COVID-19 virus itself, and called for the shot to be pulled from the market.
In January, he joined a panel led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) focused on COVID-19 vaccine injuries,
Hillary Blackburn
Blackburn is a pharmacist and director of medication access and affordability at AscensionRx, the pharmacy arm of the Ascension health system, one of the nation’s leading Catholic health systems. Her vaccine views are not clear.
Evelyn Griffin
Griffin is an obstetrician/gynecologist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Washington Post previously reported Griffin spoke at a 2024 Louisiana “Health Freedom Day” event promoting efforts to repeal vaccine mandates.
According to HHS, she was among the first robotic-assisted gynecologic surgeons in the U.S. and has led efforts to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.
Raymond Pollak
Pollak is a surgeon and transplant immunobiologist. He was a whistleblower in a lawsuit against the University of Illinois Hospital alleging that the hospital admitted patients for liver transplants when they were not medically necessary.
According to HHS, he has published more than 120 peer-reviewed works and served as principal investigator on NIH transplant biology grants and numerous drug trials.
