AHIP pledges vaccine coverage ahead of ACIP meeting

Vaccine recommendations in the air amid ACIP shakeup

The ACIP has faced a complete shakeup under the Trump administration. Under the direction of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., all 17 members of ACIP were dismissed in June 2025 in an effort to "restore public trust" and eliminate perceived conflicts of interest.

ACIP was established in the 1960s to provide expert, evidence-based recommendations to the CDC and the HHS secretary on the use of vaccines to control infectious diseases. Prior to Kennedy's reconstitution of the ACIP, President Joe Biden appointed all 17 sitting ACIP members.

At the time of the shakeup, AHIP maintained its "continued commitment to vaccine coverage," with "robust immunization coverage" being a top priority as the 2025 respiratory virus season approached.

Meanwhile, the American Medical Association said the removal of ACIP members "undermines that trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives."

Kennedy appoints new members ahead of vaccine vote

In September, Kennedy appointed five new ACIP members. The newly appointed members are:

• Catherine M. Stein, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Population & Quantitative Health at Case Western Reserve University,
• Evelyn Griffin, M.D., obstetrician and gynecologist at Baton Rouge General Hospital in Louisiana,
• Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, M.B.A., director of medication access and affordability at AscensionRx,
• Kirk Milhoan, M.D., Ph.D., medical director at For Hearts and Souls Free Medical Clinic in Hawaii,
• Raymond Pollak, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.R.C.S., a surgeon, transplant immunobiologist and transplant specialist, who previously served as principal investigator on NIH transplant biology grants and drug trials.

These appointees join seven other ACIP members selected by Kennedy in June, including Robert Malone, M.D., who spread misinformation about COVID-19 during the pandemic and opposed vaccine mandates, and Retsef Levi, an MIT professor who widely criticized mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

The appointments come days before a scheduled ACIP meeting on Sept. 18 and 19, when the panel is slated to discuss COVID-19 vaccines. Discussions will also include vaccines for hepatitis B; measles, mumps, rubella and varicella; and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Many of the new ACIP members have also been critical of the immunizations up for debate in tomorrow's meeting. Milhoan, for example, was on a 2024 panel led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) during which he said COVID-19 vaccines caused bodily harm to some recipients, including heart-related deaths and disability. Griffin has also spoken against COVID-19 vaccines and school immunization schedules.

Jacqueline LaPointe is a graduate of Brandeis University and King's College London. She has been writing about healthcare finance and revenue cycle management since 2016.