"Kennedy did not pick people with strong, current expertise in vaccines," says Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Law, San Francisco, who studies vaccine policy. "It tells me that Kennedy is setting up a committee that would be skeptical of vaccines, and possibly willing to implement an anti-vaccine agenda."
The panel of outside experts helps set vaccine policy and craft recommendations for the immunization schedule, which guides health providers and influences which shots are covered by health
Kennedy's new selections have varied backgrounds, though many rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they criticized government policies on school closures and lockdowns, and the mRNA vaccines.
For example, Kulldorff, an epidemiologist and biostatistician, helped write the Great Barrington Declaration with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, then a Stanford University professor who is now director of the National Institutes of Health. That open letter questioned lockdowns and other public health measures early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Kulldorff declined to comment when reached by NPR.
Malone has gained a large following for undermining the COVID-19 vaccine. A scientist who worked on early research into the mRNA technology, he became critical of the shot and made baseless and disproven claims, including falsely stating that getting vaccinated puts people who have already had COVID-19 at higher risk.
Some of those selected by Kennedy hold academic appointments at well-known universities.
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