June 24 (UPI) -- Sen. Bill Cassidy called for a meeting of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory committee set for this week to be postponed, citing a lack of experience among its new appointees.
The new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices panel selected by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to meet for the first time Wednesday and Thursday, but Cassidy, R-La., a physician and chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, warned against that Monday in a post on X.
"Wednesday's meeting should not proceed with a relatively small panel, and no CDC director in place to approve the panel's recommendations," he wrote. "The meeting should be delayed until the panel is fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation -- as required by law -- including those with more direct relevant expertise."
Cassidy said that while Kennedy's picks for the ACIP panel "have scientific credentials" he warned that "many do not have significant experience studying microbiology, epidemiology or immunology."
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