Threat to US vaccines as CDC staff supporting key advisory panel laid off

Critics say scientists held hostage' by RFK Jr as changes mean vaccine development and guidance in peril

The staff supporting the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) were let go earlier this month in a sweeping round of layoffs that gutted entire departments of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most of the committee's working groups, which pore over data and help set the agendas, haven't met for months, and there was little communication from the staff even before they received reduction in force (RIF) notices during the US government shutdown.