Fired ACIP Members Speak To Us On the Future of Vaccines + Dr. Michael Mina On A 'Code Red' Moment

Why is a little-known CDC advisory committee meeting today making big headlines?

Because Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. just fired every single member—replacing them with his own hand-picked team.

The committee in question is ACIP, a group of independent experts that guides how vaccines are used by hundreds of millions of Americans. Kennedy called the shake-up a “clean sweep,” claiming the previous committee's work was just a rubber stamp for Big Pharma and couldn’t be trusted.

Many in the medical and scientific community warn that this move could dismantle the nation’s vaccine system, erode public trust, and drive up costs.

What should we trust? And can we trust that the health of Americans is not getting caught in the crossfire? 

Today, we speak with two of the fired ACIP members to hear their direct response to the accusations. Then, Dr. Michael Mina—physician, scientist, and critic of the firings—joins us to unpack the broader context of these sweeping changes to America’s vaccine policy, what concerns are real, and what might be overblown.

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guests:

Charlotte Moser, ex-ACIP, co-director, Vaccine Education Center

Dr Jamie Loehr, ex-ACIP, family physician

Dr Michael Mina; physician, immunologist; epidemiologist

Sources:
Michael Mina:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/opinion/rfk-vaccine-policy-changes.html

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Chapters

• 0:40 Intro and headline: Tensions Over Talking Vaccines
• 2:47 Introducing Charlotte Moser and Dr Jamie Loehr, ex-ACIP
• 3:33 Tom, How Did We Get Here?
• 5:00 Mark: What is ACIP?
• 10:02 Jamie: How They Learned They Were Fired
• 13:26 Charlotte: The Components of ACIP and How it Works
• 14:48 ACIP and Big Pharma
• 18:18 Is the Old ACIP Too Narrow In Its Scope?
• 22:16 How Exactly Do You Get Into Conflict of Interests at ACIP?
• 28:18 Vaccines, Cost and ACIP
• 29:38 On Thimerasol In Vaccines
• 35:08 Questions from MAHA
• 44:08 What Is Keeping You Up At Night?
• 48:28 Introducing Dr. Michael Mina!
• 48:41 Why Is This a Code Red Moment?
• 52:13 Changing the Status Quo vs Responsible Intervention
• 56:22 On the New Team
• 1:03:31 "Reading the Room of America"
• 1:06:31 ACIP, CDC on Childhood Immunization Schedule
• 1:10:20 New ACIP Is Well Known by Their Followers
• 1:14:19 How Should Our Listeners Make Sense of All This?
• 1:19:52 Too Much Reactionary Response from Media and Public Health
• 1:23:26 Thank you for listening!