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On Monday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced that he is dismissing the entire

Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, that is, the expert panel

that for decades has helped guide U.S. vaccine policy. RFK. Jr. says this is part of his broader

effort to, quote, restore trust in public

health, but the vast majority of public health experts argue it's more about dismantling the

scientific infrastructure that has helped steer the country through everything from polio to COVID.

So we're going to talk about what this move might actually mean in practice. How are vaccines

recommended in the U.S. now? What does it mean to fire the people who've been evaluating

safety data for years, all 17 people who are doing that? And how are scientists and health

professionals preparing for this next phase of public health under a deeply skeptical administration.

Joining us now is Dr. Caitlin Jedalina, epidemiologist, data scientist, and author of the

newsletter called Your Local Epidemiologist.

She's been following this story closely and breaking it down for readers.

And as some of you know, she was on with us multiple

times during the height of COVID and since. Dr. Jedolita, always good to have you. Welcome back to

WNIC. Yeah, thank you for having me. Good morning. So give our listeners a little more background.

What exactly is the CDC's advisory committee on immunization practices? Yeah, so for a vaccine or medical

device or medication to make it from clinical trials to public access to your arms, for example,

it goes through a pretty, not pretty, it goes through a really rigorous process, which includes

FDA. It also includes ACIP, which is a external committee made up of pediatricians, immunologists, epidemiologists, physicians who review the evidence and recommend who should receive which vaccines and when.

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