The appointment of vaccine skeptics to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s primary vaccine safety board could have a paradoxical effect and make patients across the country more willing to trust public health recommendations and get vaccinated.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to include two well-known vaccine skeptics among eight appointments to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices could enhance the credibility of the board’s vaccine recommendations among people who do not trust the public health establishment.
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A host of medical professional organizations have lambasted Kennedy for firing the entire 17-member ACIP panel on Monday. The American Medical Association called for the Senate to investigate Kennedy’s abrupt decision.
However, some experts said including prominent vaccine critics on the panel could prove beneficial in allaying vaccine fears.
Michael Cannon, director of health policy at the libertarian Cato Institute, said Kennedy’s appointment of ACIP members who are skeptical of the status quo was valid, and it could even lend credibility to recommendations when the committee deems that a new product is safe.
Cannon said Kennedy’s endorsement of a vaccine, given his long history of anti-vaccine advocacy, should be considered a valuable asset.
“I want to make sure I praise Kennedy every time he says something nice about the measles vaccination because, when he does it, it’s much more valuable when the CEO of Pfizer or whoever says it, because he has credibility with vaccine skeptics that a lot of other people don’t,” Cannon said. “So the same thing, I think, applies to the members of ACIP.”
Vaccine skeptics on ACIP
Kennedy promised that he would not appoint “ideological anti-vaxxers” to the committee, but two of the eight newly appointed ACIP members have deep ties to the anti-vaccine movement, which has gained steam in Republican circles since the COVID-19 pandemic. The two members are Drs. Robert Malone and Vicky Pebsworth.
Malone, a staunch critic of mRNA vaccine technology despite having contributed to its early development, has become a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement since his public push against COVID-19 vaccines. He has 1.3 million followers on X and a broadcasting platform.
In the early 2000s, Pebsworth was a voting member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. Now she co-leads the National Vaccine Information Center, which provides information and counseling to those who suspect they have suffered injuries from vaccines. The group’s website also touts the debunked link between vaccines and autism.
Cannon said his main concern regarding Kennedy’s two most controversial picks is that they would not be open to changing their point of view on vaccines, a position some have labeled as “vaccine cynicism,” as opposed to skepticism or hesitancy.
Dr. Michael Mina, a former Harvard physician and scientist, posted on X shortly after Kennedy’s announcement that having the vaccine skeptics or even hard-line cynics on ACIP will force the pro-vaccine members “to know and understand what and why millions of Americans are hesitant or turning their backs on vaccines.”
“It’s scary to have those two on the panel and is playing with fire,” said Mina, referring to Malone and Pebsworth, “but maybe there’s a silver lining.”
Om Thursday, Mina walked back some of his earlier optimism on X by highlighting that the other six of the eight new members Kennedy announced last night do not specialize in vaccines. He added that it’s “terrifying” that Malone and Pebsworth are the only two appointees whose respective careers have specialized in vaccines.
Mina did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment to elaborate on his position.
Republican trust in CDC and FDA rising
Vaccine skepticism rose globally following the COVID-19 pandemic. In the United States, Republicans are less likely to get vaccinated.
A January poll from the left-leaning health policy think tank KFF found that 1 in 4 Republican parents delayed or skipped childhood vaccines for their children, compared to only 5% of Democratic parents who said the same.
Roughly 33% of Republicans reported believing that the risks of vaccines outweigh their benefits, compared to only 15% of Democrats.
However, trust in federal public health agencies’ recommendations has only increased among Republicans since Kennedy took over HHS, signaling that vaccine skepticism could subside should a Kennedy-backed ACIP deem vaccine products as safe and effective.
According to a KFF poll conducted before the ACIP announcement, Republican trust in the CDC increased by 11 percentage points from September 2023 to April 2025, from only 40% of Republicans trusting the agency to 51% now.
Similarly, Republican trust in the FDA rose from 42% in 2023 to 52% last month.
However, during that same time, trust in the CDC and FDA decreased roughly the same amount among Democrats, with roughly only 7 in 10 Democrats trusting the agencies now compared to 8 in 10 having confidence in them two years ago.
Only 16% of Democrats said they trusted Kennedy to provide reliable information about vaccines, compared to 73% of Republicans.
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Jen Kates, global health policy expert for KFF, told the Washington Examiner that it “remains to be seen” whether Kennedy’s nominees will ease or exacerbate vaccine skepticism.
“If the new panel calls into question the role of vaccines, skepticism could rise even more,” Kates said. “If, on the other hand, it continues in the tradition of ACIP to make recommendations based on the evidence and what’s best for the public at large, perhaps skepticism could abate.”