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.”“Otherwise, ACIP’s recommendations could be viewed with skepticism, which will work against the success of this Administration’s efforts,” he warned.Earlier this month, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the committee, claiming “a clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.He has since named eight new members to the committee, including Robert Malone, who has a long track record of sharing conspiracy theories about the COVID vaccine.The committee is tasked with making recommendations to the CDC on how to use vaccines to control the spread of disease within the country. The recommendations typically become policy once they are approved by the CDC director.Despite asking pointed questions about Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism during his Senate confirmation hearings, Cassidy voted to approve the Trump ally as health and human services secretary.Close