The group will meet in Atlanta in mid-September.
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New additions to the vaccine advisory panel may provide insight to the direction HHS Secretary Kennedy wishes to take with vaccine policy.
Earlier this year, Kennedy sparked controversy when he dismissed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. He quickly followed this by adding seven new members to the group, many of which were criticized for having anti-vax beliefs. Kennedy himself has been accused of being anti-vax, although he has pushed back on this description during his time as HHS Secretary.
Reuters reports that early this week, HHS announced that five new members had been added to the committee, bringing the total to 12.1 The new members are:
- Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist
- Catherine Stein, an epidemiologist at Case Western Reserve University
- Hilary Blackburn, a St. Louis pharmacist and daughter-in-law of Senator Marsha Blackburn
- Raymon Pollack, a semi-retired transplant surgeon
- Evelyn Griffin, an obstetrician from Louisiana
As with the previous group, the new members of the committee appear to have ties to the anti-vax community or other fringe medical beliefs. Milhoan has publicly backed the use of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 (despite neither medication having shown any proven efficacy against the disease. Stein and Griffin have both argued against various vaccine mandates, with Griffin describing them as a line in the sand that should not have been crossed.
Several of the new members have also expressed doubts about the danger of COVID and the handling of the pandemic.
The new additions are joining the committee as it prepares to meet and review guidance for various vaccines, including those for hepatitis B, measles-mumps-rubella-varicella, and COVID-19.
According to a report from AP News,2 the group is expected to vote on whether to make changes to its advice on the COVID, hepatitis B, and chickenpox vaccines. Another item that’s expected to be on agenda when the group convenes in Atlanta, Georgia, is the future of a government program that pays for children’s vaccines for low-income families.
In June, when Kennedy initially dismissed the existing members and replaced them with his own picks, AP News reported3 that he stated his intention was to bring “great people” onto the panel, not anti-vaxxers. However, one of the initial additions to the panel was Vicky Pebsworth, a regional director for the National Association of Catholic Nurses who has ties to the National Vaccine Information Center, a group accused of spreading misinformation about vaccines.
Kennedy also added Dr. Robert Malone to the committee. Malone is a controversial figure in the medical field. While he was once an mRNA researcher, he was since been accused of spreading conspiracy theories, including the idea that some COVID vaccines caused people to develop a form of AIDS (a claim that has little to no evidence to support itself).
At the time, AP News spoke with several health experts who expressed concern over the new committee members. According to one of the news outlet’s sources, the new members lack the rechnical knowledge that previous members had. This would limit their ability to make decisions based on complicated scientific data.
While Kennedy has claimed that he believes that anyone who wants the vaccine should be able to get it, recommendations and guidelines from HHS can impact whether vaccines are covered under various programs or insurance plans.
Sources
- Kennedy appoints five new members to US vaccine panel. Reuters. September 15, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/kennedy-appoints-five-new-members-us-vaccine-panel-2025-09-15/
- Kennedy’s vaccine committee plans to vote on COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox shots. AP News. September 15, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/vaccines-cdc-covid-hepatitis-chickenpox-844d270e69b77f8fe2da12eab75ed926
- Kennedy’s new CDC panel includes members who have criticized vaccines and spread misinformation. AP News. June 12, 2025. Accessed September 16, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/cdc-acip-vaccine-committee-9f58e1f004075b081718ff078de88d76