WASHINGTON, D.C. 鈥 Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday named eight doctors and researchers, including two prominent critics of federal scientists and the Biden administration鈥檚 COVID vaccine policies, to replace roughly half the members he fired from an expert panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
FILE 鈥 Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies during a budget hearing in Washington, on May 14, 2025. Kennedy fired an entire committee of vaccine advisers in part because all were appointed by a Democratic president and some had made donations to Democrats, according to a White House official and another person familiar with Mr. Kennedy鈥檚 thinking. (Eric lee/The New York Times)
Kennedy made the announcement Wednesday on the social platform X, two days after he fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
鈥淭he slate includes highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America鈥檚 most accomplished physicians,鈥 he wrote. In a post on X late Tuesday night, Kennedy promised he would not appoint 鈥渋deological anti-vaxxers.鈥
But the appointments of at least two of the new members 鈥 Martin Kulldorff and Dr. Robert Malone 鈥 are likely to draw an uproar from pro-vaccine groups. Both were highly critical of President Joe Biden鈥檚 coronavirus vaccine policies during the pandemic.
Demonstrators gather across from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters during a staff walkout to protest the dismantling of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in Atlanta, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Robert F. Kenned, the health secretary, on Monday fired all 17 members of the advisory committee on immunization to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying that the move would restore the public鈥檚 trust in vaccines. (Melissa Golden/The New York Times)
Kulldorff, a Swedish biostatistician and former Harvard University professor who in the past advised the CDC on vaccine safety, opposed vaccine mandates. He came to prominence in 2020 as a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, a document that opposed lockdowns and drew intense backlash from Dr. Anthony Fauci and other public health leaders, who branded it dangerous.
Malone, who played an early role in mRNA research and has claimed to be the inventor of the technology, became a right-wing star after a 2021 appearance on 鈥淭he Joe Rogan Experience鈥 that exposed both him and Rogan to criticism that they had spread misinformation.
