Shake-up at federal vaccine committee as chairman departs for HHS leadership role
Martin Kulldorff, who has led the influential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) through several controversial policy shifts, is leaving his position to take on a new leadership role within the Department of Health and Human Services, officials announced this week.
Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist who has previously blamed vaccines for causing cardiovascular disease, will step in as the new ACIP chair. Milhoan, who was appointed to the committee just last September, takes the helm as the panel prepares to consider potentially significant changes to pediatric vaccination recommendations at meetings scheduled for later this week.
Leadership transition comes amid policy shifts
Kulldorff, a Swedish-born biostatistician known for co-authoring the controversial Great Barrington Declaration that criticized pandemic shutdowns, will become chief science officer within HHS’s planning and evaluation office — what officials describe as the department’s “in-house think tank.”
“I look forward to contributing to the science-based public health policies that will Make America Healthy Again,” Kulldorff stated in an HHS press release that praised his work leading the committee.
The transition comes after Kulldorff’s tenure saw the committee abandon its traditional “evidence-to-recommendation” framework, which typically involved months of analysis before proposals came to vote. Under his leadership, the ACIP made several decisions that raised eyebrows throughout the medical community.
What specifically prompted the leadership change? HHS officials have remained tight-lipped, declining to answer additional questions about the committee shake-up beyond a standard press release.
Controversial decisions under Kulldorff
During Kulldorff’s chairmanship, the ACIP recommended removing thimerosal, a preservative, from flu vaccines despite some members acknowledging there was no evidence it was causing harm. The panel also placed new restrictions on the combined MMRV vaccine that protects against chickenpox, measles, mumps, and rubella.
Perhaps most controversially, the committee took the unprecedented step of not recommending COVID-19 vaccinations — even for high-risk populations like seniors — instead making vaccination a matter of personal choice.
These shifts prompted several major medical groups to criticize the committee’s decisions, arguing they weren’t based on sound evidence. Many groups advised doctors and patients to follow guidance that had previously been in place, effectively creating a parallel set of recommendations outside the official federal framework.
Hepatitis B recommendations under review
The committee is scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday in Atlanta, where it’s expected to vote on potential changes to recommendations for hepatitis B vaccination in newborns. Currently, guidelines call for infants to receive their first dose within 24 hours of birth.
These infant vaccinations are 85% to 95% effective in preventing chronic hepatitis B infections, according to studies. Experts maintain there is no recent peer-reviewed research showing safety issues with administering the shots on a newborn’s first day of life.
Still, this isn’t the first time the committee has considered changes to the hepatitis B schedule. In September, ACIP members discussed delaying the initial vaccination but ultimately didn’t vote on the proposal amid criticism from independent pediatric and infectious disease specialists, who pointed to the vaccine’s safety record and its role in dramatically reducing infant infections.
With Milhoan now leading the committee, many public health experts are watching closely to see if the panel will revisit this proposal and how it might approach other aspects of the pediatric vaccine schedule during this week’s meetings.
The transition marks yet another shift in federal public health leadership as the administration continues to remake key scientific advisory bodies — leaving medical professionals and the public to navigate an increasingly complex landscape of official recommendations and professional guidance.
