CDC Vaccine Panel Fired by RFK, Jr., Oceans Grow More Acidic, and Pangolins Threatened by Hunting

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 16 June 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has fired the experts on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel, sparking concern among public health officials. Ocean acidification has crossed a critical threshold, posing serious risks to marine life around the globe. And pangolins face growing threats from increased hunting, complicating efforts to protect the world’s most trafficked mammal. This episode was made possible by the support of Yakult and produced independently by Scientific American’s board of editors. Recommended reading: How RFK, Jr.’s Dismissal of CDC Immunization Committee Panelists Will Affect America’s Vaccine Access Email us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:43.2	Happy Monday listeners, For Scientific American Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feldman.
0:55.3	You're listening to the Weekly Science News Roundup.
0:56.5	Let's dive right in.
1:01.4	First, I've got a quick dispatch from Lauren Young, Associate Editor for Health and Medicine and Scientific American.
1:03.1	Last week, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
1:07.1	Services, announced the dismissal of all the public health experts on the advisory
1:11.7	committee on immunization practices. The ACIP is an independent committee that counsels the U.S.
1:17.6	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines. Here's Lorne now to tell us more.
1:23.1	So a little rundown of what ACIP does. The committee's recommendations help guide doctors, health practitioners, and the general public
1:30.9	on whether or not various groups of people should get access to vaccines and when.
1:35.5	So for instance, they help shape immunization schedules for adults, kids, pregnant people, and
1:40.9	those with pre-existing health conditions that may make them more vulnerable to severe
1:44.7	illness. So the ACIP meets about three times a year, and the meetings are open to the public
	...

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