In an unprecedented move that’s already sending shockwaves through the medical and political establishment, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired the CDC’s long-standing vaccine advisory board. The decision comes on the heels of his controversial call to strip COVID-19 vaccines from the recommended immunization schedules for children and pregnant women.
For over 25 years, the advisory panel, technically known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) had never declared a single vaccine unsafe.
But under RFK Jr.’s leadership, that era of unwavering pharmaceutical endorsement has come to an abrupt end.
‘Closest We’ve Seen to Real Consequences’
“This is the first true consequence that I think we have seen,” said Steve Deace during a recent broadcast.
Deace noted the broader trend unfolding in Trump’s second-term health policy appointments: “Almost every major health care policy position has gone to some form of COVID scamdemic skeptic.”
He added, “The nomination of RFK Jr. as secretary of HHS, guys, might be the closest we’re ever going to get in America to a tribunal on what happened during that period of time. And now, this is the closest thing to real consequences, people losing their jobs, that we have seen.”
It’s not just political theater. The terminations mark a rare instance in which long-time health bureaucrats are being held accountable for their role in what critics say was a deeply flawed pandemic response.
A Quarter Century Without Dissent
The board’s track record speaks volumes, or at least, it used to.
“We’re talking about a panel that at least 25 years did not find one single shot unsafe, including the COVID vaccines. So that just kind of gives you an idea of who this panel is,” Deace emphasized.
That lack of dissent has become a lightning rod for critics like Kennedy, who’ve accused the panel of being too cozy with pharmaceutical companies and too dismissive of vaccine injuries.
Moderna’s Timeline Raises Eyebrows
Deace also pointed to Moderna as an example of what he views as systemic dysfunction.
“Now, just to put this in some context … Moderna, as a company, for over a decade tried to bring a singular product to market but was never able to do it one time, until the COVID vaccine” he said.
“So somehow, somehow they were unable to harness this mRNA technology for over a decade to successfully bring one, not even a single product to market one time, and yet, under the gun, the pressure of a once-in-a-century pandemic, they pulled it off,” he continued.
Critics argue that the speed and lack of scrutiny surrounding mRNA vaccines, especially given their rushed rollout, were a product of regulatory rubber-stamping by agencies like the CDC and its advisory boards.
A Calculated Power Move
The firings aren’t just symbolic. They serve as a clear warning shot from RFK Jr. to the medical establishment: the days of automatic compliance and unchecked consensus may be over.
Whether this shake-up ushers in a new era of medical transparency or triggers institutional chaos remains to be seen. But one thing’s certain, the vaccine debate in America just took a very sharp turn.
