A few weeks ago, I wrote that HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr) would be adding seven new members to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which makes vaccine recommendations for adults and children. These would be in addition to the ones he previously appointed after firing the respected scientists and vaccine experts who made up ACIP.

Apparently, RFK Jr changed his mind on two of those seven, and he decided to add five new members to the ACIP vaccine advisory panel. On the other hand, the two who were excluded, Joseph Fraiman, MD, and John Gaitanis, MD, may have refused the appointment.

The bulk of the five new members have some anti-vaccine (especially against the COVID vaccine) points of view, which I would assume means that current vaccine recommendations are going to be at risk.

ACIP’s next meeting is scheduled for September 18-19, 2025, and the posted agenda states that “recommendation votes may be scheduled” for hepatitis B, COVID, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccines.

This article will review the backgrounds of each new member and their stance on vaccines. If you were hoping for prestigious scientists who would support the science that backs the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, that hope fell on deaf ears.

RFK Jr appoints new members to the ACIP vaccine advisory panel

In this section, list each of the new members, and I will include their professional background and their viewpoints on vaccines.

Evelyn Griffin, MD

Griffin is an ob-gyn who practices in Louisiana at Baton Rouge General Medical Center.

In 2023, Griffin testified against adding COVID vaccines to Louisiana’s vaccine schedule for school-age children. She stated that “the average kid in Louisiana has a higher chance of getting struck by lightning than dying of COVID.”

Griffin has also given a speech in which she expressed COVID vaccine denialism and advocated for the use of ivermectin.

Catherine Stein, PhD

Stein is on the faculty of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, OH. Her research focuses on tuberculosis, and she teaches courses on infectious disease epidemiology and population health.

Her background might sound good for ACIP; however, during the COVID pandemic, Stein testified in support of bills that allowed Ohio lawmakers to vote down public health orders, according to an article published by the Ohio Capital Journal.

In that same article, the reporter stated that she “argued that masks don’t work; the ’emphasis on case counts is inappropriate;’ and that ‘this continued focus on fear and likely inflated numbers is doing nothing but hurting families.'” She also cites research from Health Freedom Ohio, an anti-vaccine group that has refocused its advocacy on COVID-19 issues.

There is no indication that she is overtly anti-vaccine, but she is definitely outside of the mainstream consensus on the COVID pandemic. And that usually means being against COVID vaccines.

Kirk Milhoan, MD

Milhoan is a pediatric cardiologist from Hawaii. He appears to have ties to Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded by RFK Jr. Of course, he does.

He strongly advocates against COVID vaccines for children, stating that the shots cause cardiac issues. He has also supported using ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID — of course, these medications are ineffective for treating COVID.

Milhoan is definitely anti-COVID vaccine, but there is no information about his views on other vaccines.

Raymond Pollak, MD

According to Reuters, Pollak is a semi-retired transplant surgeon who has a background in immunology. Other than that, there is no information about his viewpoints on vaccines.

Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBA

Blackburn is a Nashville, Tennessee-based pharmacist. There is not a lot of information about her viewpoints on vaccines, but her podcasts include some positive episodes about the COVID vaccine and interviews with ACIP members back before RFK Jr fired all the real scientists.

I’m cautiously optimistic that she’s pro-vaccine, but it’s not very clear.

Summary

Last year, I never wrote about specific members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices because they were all distinguished scientists with vast expertise on vaccines. I just assume that whatever the old ACIP recommended, it was going to be science-based and good for the citizens of the USA.

Now, I have to check each member appointed by RFK Jr to determine if they are or are not anti-vaccine. In this group, there appears to be one who is definitely anti-vax. The rest of these new members are mostly anti-COVID vaccine or have unknown vaccine points of view.

None of the new members, except possibly Hillary Blackburn, has any background in vaccine science. RFK Jr’s new ACIP can’t be trusted on vaccines because most of them are not vaccine scientists or, worse yet, they use junk science to promote anti-vaccine viewpoints.

This is why California, Oregon, and Washington have created a West Coast Health Alliance to push back on RFK Jr’s anti-vaccine recommendations. I am certain other states with pro-science governors will do the same.

There is little good news with these appointments. It’s just another step in RFK Jr’s plans to destroy the vaccine system in the USA.

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