Chair of vaccine advisory panel replaced

 The chair of a federal vaccine advisory committee, himself a well-known vaccine critic, will be moving to an official role within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency announced Monday.

HHS announced Martin Kulldorff was appointed to be chief science officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).

Kulldorff, a Swedish biostatistician, served as chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this year after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired and remade the entire committee with many known vaccine skeptics and critics.

Kulldorff formerly taught at Harvard University’s medical school until he was fired in 2024 for what he claimed was his refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. He was also an author of the “Great Barrington Declaration,” which called for promoting herd immunity early on in the COVID-19 pandemic by allowing the virus to spread unmitigated.

“Martin Kulldorff transformed ACIP from a rubber stamp into a committee that delivers gold-standard science for the American people,” Kennedy said in a statement. “I’m glad to welcome him to my team to help develop bold, evidence-based policies to Make America Healthy Again.”

Kulldorff said he was honored “to join the team of distinguished scientists” at HHS. “I look forward to contributing to the science-based public health policies that will Make America Healthy Again.”

Pediatric cardiologist and former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon Kirk Milhoan will replace Kulldorff as chair of the ACIP. Milhoan is also an ardent vaccine critic and previously argued that vaccines were ineffective, arguing only natural immunity could end the COVID-19 pandemic.

He is a senior fellow at the Independent Medical Alliance, an organization that has spoken out against mRNA vaccines and has instead promoted the use of drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5628322-martin-kulldorff-kennedy-hhs-appointment/