GOP Senator Says Vaccine Meeting Should Be Postponed Over Panel's 'Lack Of Experience'

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said some of the new members appointed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "may even have a preconceived bias against" vaccines.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Monday said an upcoming meeting of the vaccine advisory committee should be postponed given that many of its new members appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “do not have significant experience studying microbiology, epidemiology or immunology.”

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Cassidy, who is also a physician, said some of the eight people who currently sit on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and are set to meet on Wednesday and Thursday for the first time “lack experience studying new technologies such as mRNA vaccines, and may even have a preconceived bias against them.”

“Robust and transparent scientific discussion is important, so long as it is rooted in evidence and understanding,” he said. “Wednesday’s meeting should not proceed with a relatively small panel, and no CDC Director in place to approve the panel’s recommendations.”

Trump in March nominated Susan Monarez, the acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to lead the agency on a permanent basis. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education Labor and Pensions — chaired by Cassidy — is set to hold a confirmation hearing for Monarez on Wednesday.

Cassidy said the vaccine panel meeting should be held once the committee is fully staffed with members with “more direct relevant expertise.”