RFK Jr. Dismantles Vaccine System; Measles Surges to 30-Year High
Health Secretary RFK Jr. fired all 17 CDC vaccine advisors and gutted the childhood vaccine schedule. Measles cases hit 2,281 in 2025 — the most in 30+ years — with the first measles deaths in a decade.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. systematically dismantled the U.S. vaccine infrastructure despite confirmation promises to support vaccination. On June 9, 2025, he fired all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the authoritative vaccine guidance panel established in 1964.
The destruction was comprehensive:
- Attempted to gut the childhood vaccine schedule from 17 recommended vaccines to 11
- The FDA's top vaccine expert, Dr. Peter Marks, resigned in March over Kennedy's misinformation
- Rather than promoting vaccination during outbreaks, Kennedy emphasized vitamin A as a treatment
- Trump called the childhood vaccine schedule a "disgrace"
The consequences were immediate and deadly: 2,281 confirmed measles cases in 2025 — the most in over three decades — including the first measles-related deaths in a decade. By March 2026, cases surpassed 1,100 for the year, putting the U.S. at risk of losing its measles elimination status — a public health achievement that had taken decades to build.