Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of health and human services, appointed eight new members of an expert panel that advises the federal government on immunization policy, including several vocal vaccine critics and one who identifies as an “anti-vaxxer.

A fired committee member who served on the panel since July 2024 said the decision to fire him and his colleagues came from "out of the blue."

Kennedy said the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group of experts who recommend vaccines, has been "plagued with persistent conflicts of interest."