Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy on Monday night called for federal health officials to postpone this week’s meetings of outside vaccine advisers, citing a small, newly appointed panel and concerns about biases against vaccines.
Cassidy’s push to delay the meeting comes after multiple efforts from the Louisiana doctor to ensure that US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would not stoke uncertainty over vaccine safety. Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, grilled Kennedy on his vaccine views earlier this year before ultimately voting to confirm him as HHS secretary, saying they would keep in close contact about vaccine action.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is convening its Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices on Wednesday and Thursday. The meeting has been scheduled for some time, but Kennedy dismissed the 17 existing members of the committee this month and named eight new appointees two days later.
Among the new appointeesare Dr. Robert Malone, who has advocated against mRNA vaccines, and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, who has questioned vaccine safety. Both have served as paid witnesses in cases against vaccine manufacturers. Other new members include Dr. Retsef Levi, an IT professor of operations management who co-authored a study suggesting a link between Covid-19 vaccines and heart problems, and Dr. Vicky Pebsworth, a nurse aligned with the National Vaccine Information Center, which advocates for vaccine exemptions.
“Although the appointees to ACIP have scientific credentials, many do not have significant experience studying microbiology, epidemiology or immunology,” Cassidywrote on Xon Monday. “In particular, some lack experience studying new technologies such as mRNA vaccines, and may even have a preconceived bias against them.”
He further said that the meeting should not take place when there is no permanent CDC director. The administration’s nominee for that post, Dr. Susan Monarez, is due to appear for her confirmation hearing before the HELP Committee on Wednesday morning, the same day the advisory panel is set to convene. The administrationwithdrew its first nomineefor CDC director, former Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon, in March amid senators’ concerns about his vaccine views and the prospect that multiple Republicans would vote against his nomination.
Cassidy had expressed reservations earlier this year about voting for Kennedy’s nomination, asking the longtime vaccine safety critic during a HELP Committee confirmation hearing whether he would listen to the science on the issue.
“Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me. Can I trust that that is now in the past? Can data and information change your opinion, or will you only look for data supporting a predetermined conclusion?” he said during closing remarks in Kennedy’s January confirmation hearing.
The nominee had said earlier in the hearing that “news reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety.”
Cassidy ultimately voted to confirm Kennedy, saying in Senate floor remarks that he had secured assurances that the secretary would protect public confidence in vaccination.
“Regarding vaccines, Mr. Kennedy has been insistent that he just wants good science and to ensure safety. But on this topic, the science is good, the science is credible. Vaccines save lives. They are safe. They do not cause autism,” Cassidy said February 4.
He went on to say that he recognizes that parents could need reassurances that vaccines are safe but that confidence in the science should not be undermined.
“To this end, Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed that he and I will have an unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship if he is confirmed. We will meet or speak multiple times a month,” Cassidy said.
Yet in his X post on Monday, the senator was stark. “The meeting should be delayed until the panel is fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation – as required by law – including those with more direct relevant expertise,” he wrote.
Spokespeople for HHS and Cassidy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.