Anti-vaxxers are running the show at the CDC vaccine advisory meeting

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sign

Staff Writer

June 26, 2025 6:30 AM PT

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Quick! If you’re reading this newsletter first thing Thursday morning, you probably still have time to catch the Real Housewives-worthy drama happening at the Center for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting in Atlanta right now.

This semiannual bureaucratic conclave of public health professionals is not usually must-see TV. (The summer meeting typically fine-tunes flu shot recommendations.) But earlier this month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. removed all 17 sitting members of the committee and replaced them with the seven who now make up the group.

Critics have flagged several of the new members for their anti-vax views. But this week’s conference, which began Wednesday morning, is their public debut. On Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics put out a video message blasting the new committee and declaring themselves “the experts on vaccinations for infants” — an allusion to the fear among many in public health that ACIP could radically alter current guidelines for childhood inoculation.

I called my favorite health communicator, infectious disease epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera, to get the down-low from Day One while the meeting played in the background. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me what you saw today.

I cannot believe I am watching ACIP, a previously highly respected body, allow folks like [Dr.] Robert Malone and [Dr. Retsef] Levi to repeat demonstrably false claims. This is platforming harmful dangerous medical misinformation. It is a manipulation of data, it is a farce.

Why does that matter?

This [meeting] will likely lead to decisions being made about what’s available this fall for flu and respiratory virus season.

I was not lucky enough to have an RSV vaccine when I had my kids. When my child was hospitalized for a week with RSV in 2019, I remember sobbing in the hospital wishing there was a vaccine so I didn’t have to see my 19-month-old on oxygen. No parent should have to experience that, and now it is preventable.

We’re seeing a spike in vaccine hesitancy in parents of young children. Could this committee’s recommendations worsen that?

What’s at stake here is the entire pediatric vaccine schedule. The American Academy of Pediatrics posted saying if [the new committee] go after the vaccines, we will continue to have an AAP-approved vaccine schedule based on evidence. It’s going to confuse parents. There’s already so much distrust over who is a reliable source. They’re forcing groups who’ve previously been in lockstep to become alternate sources of information because we can no longer rely on these .gov websites.

I now have to second-guess when I send somebody to the CDC website. And that is terrifying. When people make decisions based on lies, people will die.

What concerns you most about Thursday’s hearing?

They’re going to cast doubt about vaccine ingredients, about vaccines and autism, about the number of vaccines, about whether it’s a “toxic load” — which is a bunch of bull. If you look at the schedule, the only thing that’s increased is the amount of protection. What’s in the vaccines is 90% less taxing than what was in the vaccines when I was getting them in the ‘80s. [Modern vaccines use far fewer antigens, and they protect from far more diseases. That makes them less demanding on kids’ immune systems.]

Everybody will be impacted by these decisions. They’re going to be withholding funding from the Global Vaccine Alliance, which is an absolutely abhorrent decision. It’s wicked. So many kids used to die before these interventions.

ACIP has been compromised and our systems have been hijacked. So any decisions that come out of ACIP today or tomorrow, I would be extremely skeptical about. That’s something I say with a very, very heavy heart.

Today’s top stories

A contractor removes ash particles inside a classroom.

A judge rules California FAIR Plan’s smoke-damage policy illegal

A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge said that the California FAIR Plan Assn.’s policy violates the insurance code because it provides less coverage than what is required by the state’s Standard Form Fire Insurance Policy.
The FAIR Plan’s handling of smoke-damage claims has angered homeowners who say they were told to try to clean up their properties and given low-ball offers to close their claims.

California has seen more measles cases this year than all of 2024

The worrisome development comes as the nation is suffering its largest outbreak of the super-infectious disease in decades.
The virus is spreading almost universally among people who either haven’t been vaccinated, or whose vaccination status is not known, authorities note.
But the MMR shots, so named because they also afford protection against mumps and rubella, has long been in the crosshairs of anti-vaccine activists and skeptics — some of whom are now in charge of shaping U.S. policy regarding childhood immunizations.

The world’s largest wildlife crossing is entering Stage 2

The second and final stage of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing begins in July with tasks far more challenging than the first phase.
Part of this second phase involves building a tunnel along a 175-foot section of Agoura Road to connect the crossing to the Santa Monica Mountains, just west of Liberty Canyon Road.
Details are still being finalized but tunnel construction is expected to close Agoura Road for several months during the day starting in early August.

The numbers of gray whales migrating along the California coast continue to plummet

There are now likely fewer than 13,000 gray whales migrating along the North American Pacific coast — fewer than half the population’s 27,000 peak in 2016, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Although a single cause for the population shrinkage has not been determined, scientists believe it is likely the result of a changing climate and its impact on the animals’ Arctic and subarctic food supply.

What else is going on

A DoorDash executive and his parents were among 8 dead when a sudden storm capsized a Tahoe boat.
California violated the civil rights of female students by allowing trans athletes to compete, feds say.
A decade on from Obergefell, setbacks prompt a reckoning among LGBTQ+ groups.
Trump’s perilous 13 days: The attack on Iran, and the risks of failure
More than 1,600 immigrants were detained in Southern California this month, DHS says.
L.A. County sees a sharp decline in drug overdose deaths in 2024.
Will the ceasefire stick? And is Iran’s nuclear program really destroyed?
Lynn Hamilton, veteran actor and dignified foil to Redd Foxx on ‘Sanford and Son,’ has died at 95.

Commentary and opinions

Columnist Gustavo Arellano breaks down what an L.A. County politician meant when she hit up “cholos” to fight ICE.
The Supreme Court’s deference to Trump is astounding, argues columnist Jackie Calmes.
Contradicting RFK Jr., CDC says the COVID vaccine protects pregnant women, babies, and children, writes columnist Michael Hiltzik.
With federal raids across Southern California, families and neighborhoods have been reeling. Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo knows how they feel, columnist Steve Lopez writes.

This morning’s must reads

For your downtime

Swans in Miami City Ballet's "Swan Lake" at Segerstrom Hall.

Going out

Dance: Swans, Gupta and ballet on makeshift stage: The Southern California dance superbloom.
Music: Blue Note LA reveals opening calendar of acts including Robert Glasper, Charlie Puth and Killer Mike.

Staying in

Books: “Enduring Wild,” a new book by author Josh Jackson, is an engaging travelogue about California public lands under attack.
Documentaries: In “My Mom Jayne,” Mariska Hargitay grapples with a secret and her mother’s choices.
Recipes: Here’s a recipe for Hailee Catalano’s mean, green turkey sandwich.
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And finally ... from our archives

The White House is lit up in rainbow colors in commemoration of the Supreme Court's ruling to legalize same-sex marriage

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage that can’t be denied by state law.

Although California had legalized same-sex marriage two years prior, supporters around the state said they were no less elated to learn that the U.S. Supreme Court had extended the right to all Americans. The historic news moved many to tears, shouts of joy and spontaneous celebration.