New Dem Coalition Urges CDC Vaccine Panel to Follow Science

WASHINGTON — The New Democrat Coalition, a group of 116 center-left members of the House, has written a letter to the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urging him to reinstate the fired members of an advisory panel on vaccines.

In addition, the coalition is seeking immediate changes to the procedures followed by the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to ensure it provides only evidence-based recommendations on public health.

The letter to CDC Acting Director Jim O’Neill follows several developments that have disturbed coalition members, beginning with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s firing of all 17 members of the panel last June, and his later decision to replace them with what the lawmakers described as a band of “unvetted and unqualified” vaccine skeptics.

“At the same time, the recent round of unjustified CDC staff layoffs and the subsequent rehiring of these experts has only further eroded confidence in your agency’s leadership and decision-making,” the coalition’s letter said. 

“Now, amid the worst measles outbreak since 2000, when the disease had been considered eliminated in the U.S., the CDC’s recent actions are making the vaccine-preventable crisis even worse,” the lawmakers added.

Those moves were followed by the CDC’s acceptance, in September, of a recommendation that the agency limit the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine without, in the lawmakers’ view, reason or evidence.

Taken together, the group said, these actions “jeopardize the well-being of the American people, especially our most vulnerable children and seniors.”

To recommit to its role as a trusted, evidence-driven authority, the lawmakers asked the CDC specifically to: 

• Reinstate all 17 ACIP members that were fired without justification on June 9, 2025, ensuring that any new members are properly vetted for conflicts of interest and are committed to upholding scientific integrity.
• Recommit to transparency and scientific rigor in the advisory panel process by providing adequate notice of agenda items, ensuring full participation of CDC experts and liaison representatives in working groups and public meeting discussions, and continuing to utilize standardized methodologies such as GRADE.
• Provide clear, evidence-based communication to both health care providers and the public regarding the recently accepted ACIP recommendations, to support informed decision-making and maintain public trust in the CDC as the nation’s leading authority on public health guidance. 

“The panel’s departure from using sound, reliable data, opting instead to cherry-pick selective studies in forming its guidance, poses a serious risk to public health,” they lawmakers added.

“The American people deserve recommendations grounded in transparency and comprehensive evidence-based analysis. Anything less risks diminishing public trust in the CDC’s role as the gold standard for public health guidance,” the coalition concluded.