RFK Jr.'s panel could shake up vaccine system, Bay Area doctors say

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Despite promises not to upend the U.S. vaccine system, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could be on the verge of expanding an already historic shakeup.

It began with the firing of all 17 members of panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and other government agencies on vaccines earlier this month.

Stanford infectious disease specialist Dr. Bonnie Maldonado, who played a major role in the Bay Area response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was in the middle of her three-year term on the board known as ACIP.

"I think what surprise all of us was the, the, massive, termination of the entire membership of ACIP and the very rapid, institution of eight new members with no transparency about how they were chosen.," says Dr. Maldonado.

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The eight new members appointed by Kennedy will hold their first official meetings this week. After viewing the agenda, some experts have expressed concerns that the group which includes several vaccine skeptics, could begin to sow doubt about safety and the approval process itself repeating claims of ties to autism, or a lack of rigorous testing.

Dr. Maldonado did not comment on the new panel directly. But in a letter published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, she helped defend the integrity of the current vaccine approval system, and the years of work that go into vetting a single drug.

"So I think one of the things that the public doesn't understand is that, when we hear, the secretary saying that these are rubber votes, well, the discussion has been going on for weeks, months and sometimes years about a particular product," she explains.

And against that backdrop at least four states are reportedly considering issuing their own recommendations and possibly ordering vaccines directly from manufacturers. Dr. Jake Scott, M.D., is also an infectious disease specialist at Stanford. He believes at the end of the day, it's the accuracy of the science that's critical.

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"So, we have to have a recourse. And so I completely understand the motivation to develop alternative bodies of experts who can really comment on, you know, and weigh in on the risks versus benefits," Dr. Scott argues.

And while creating state-level vaccine networks would be a radical shift other experts worry about a future, where some vital vaccine research moves out of the U.S. itself. Moving to nations or multinational platforms offering continued support.

"They're going to continue to do this work because they all know as do leaders around the world, that vaccines are an amazing investment in public health," says Dr. Maldonado.

Observers say another wild card is the insurance component. And whether companies will pay for vaccinations, no longer approved by the Federal government. The Kennedy panel is already ending COVID vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women.