He added that ACIP would establish a new workgroup to study and evaluate the cumulative effects of the existing vaccine schedule. Of particular interest to the panel, Kulldorff indicated, is “the interaction between different vaccines, the total number of vaccines, cumulative amounts of vaccine ingredients and the relative timing of different vaccines.”
The panel is especially interested in scrutinizing vaccines not only for COVID but also for hepatitis B and a combination shot aimed at preventing chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella.
Kulldorff, an epidemiologist, is a former Harvard Medical School professor who maintains that he was fired in 2024 for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. During the pandemic, he proposed allowing most people to develop herd immunity through COVID infection, a strategy widely criticized by many of his peers. He also questioned the wisdom of using lockdowns to suppress the spread of the virus.
Kennedy himself is on the record as standing against some widely accepted vaccine protocols. In late May he nixed the CDC’s recommendation of COVID shots for healthy children and pregnant women.
A reaction for every action
The AAP video statement by Kressly also trails Kennedy’s firing of all previous members of the ACIP panel.
This was a move he had promised not to make, multiple news and outlets pointed out.
Many immunization watchers have criticized Kennedy’s replacements as bold anti-vaxxers or, at least, as sympathizers with vaccine skeptics.
A common charge against vaccine skeptics is that they are wrong to assume children’s immune systems can become overwhelmed by the cumulative effects of “too many” shots.
Earlier in the month, on June 9, the AAP posted a written statement from Kressly warning about the lack of evidence for such positions.
“We are witnessing an escalating effort by the [Trump] Administration to silence independent medical expertise and stoke distrust in lifesaving vaccines,” Kressly wrote. “Creating confusion around proven vaccines endangers families’ health and contributes to the spread of preventable diseases. This move undermines the trust pediatricians have built over decades with our patients and leaves us without critical scientific expertise we rely on.”
Vaccine-autism connection (or lack thereof) in the pipeline
In Wednesday’s video presentation, a brisk broadside just two minutes long, Kressly empathizes with parents.
“The news is relentless. The details are confusing. The actions are concerning and perhaps even illegal,” she says. “But recent events don’t mean the end of science-based recommendations for our children because the American Academy of Pediatrics is still here.”
As Health Exec was going to press, the new ACIP surprised many watchers when members voted to recommend a Merck shot for protecting infants against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
Meanwhile ACIP was deciding which strains of the flu to protect against in the upcoming season and, more controversially, planning to eyeball a vaccine preservative that Kennedy has associated with rising rates of autism.
Clearly, this is a developing story. Stay tuned.
Note: This story has been corrected from its original version, which misspelled Kressly. We regret the error.
