Don’t Ask, Don’t Cure
When science loses its independence, public trust goes with it.
What just happened
On June 10 2025 Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the panel that has guided U. S. vaccine schedules for more than fifty years. He called the committee “a rubber stamp for any vaccine” and promised to rebuild it from scratch. oai_citation:0‡CBS News
Professional medical groups blasted the move as reckless and anti-scientific. oai_citation:1‡ASM.org
Why it matters
ACIP was the public forum where recommendations were debated in the open. Firing the panel ends that transparency.
Every childhood and adult vaccine schedule relies on ACIP votes. A blank slate means months of uncertainty.
Vaccine confidence is already fragile. Secrecy, sudden firings, and political rhetoric make it worse, not better.
Lives are at stake. Delays in routine shots can revive diseases we once controlled, from measles to polio. oai_citation:2‡Nursing World
The pattern we cannot ignore
Silencing independent science is not new. From tobacco research in the 1970s to climate data in the 2000s, power often tries to bury inconvenient evidence. Each time, the public pays. This year the target is vaccines, tomorrow it might be cancer screenings or clean-water studies. We cannot let the precedent stand.
Civic response
Demand a transparent replacement process. Public meetings, published minutes, clear criteria for new members.
Support watchdog journalism and professional societies keeping the spotlight on ACIP’s fate.
Contact your representatives. Ask them to protect independent health panels from political purges.
Share the poster. Images cut through apathy. Post it on Insta or X, link back to the full story, keep the conversation alive.
Science serves the people, not the powerful.
If this unsettles you, good. It should. Now speak up.
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