HHS taps two physicians to CDC vaccine advisory amid overhaul

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced appointments of Dr. Sean G. Downing and Dr. Angelina Farella to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a move the department framed as part of a push for transparency and fresh clinical perspective even as the committee remains embroiled in controversy.

The department’s announcement on March 3, 2026 named Dr. Downing, an internal medicine and pediatrics physician licensed in Florida with more than 20 years in primary care, and Dr. Farella, a pediatrician who owns A Brighter Tomorrow Family Health and Wellness in Webster, Texas. HHS said the appointments “reflect the commitment of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to transparency, rigorous science and diverse clinical expertise in guiding immunization policies.”

Kennedy, who has overseen a rapid reshaping of the panel since last year, said in the announcement that “ACIP must scrutinize the evidence openly, ask hard questions, and earn the nation's confidence through transparent deliberation.” He added that “Dr. Downing and Dr. Farella bring decades of real-world experience caring for children, adults, and families – and that frontline perspective is essential to making recommendations that are grounded in gold-standard science and worthy of public trust.”

The appointments come after a sweeping restaffing of ACIP that removed the prior slate of 17 vaccine experts last June and replaced them with Kennedy’s choices, a reconstitution critics say has included members with vaccine-skeptical views. The reconstituted committee has already voted on major changes to U.S. immunization guidance: in December the panel recommended delaying hepatitis B vaccination for infants not deemed high risk until two months of age, a policy the CDC adopted, and in January the agency removed a number of childhood shots from its recommended schedule.

Accounts differ on the scale of those removals. One federal briefing and state legal filings cite the elimination of seven childhood vaccines from recommended status and a 15-state lawsuit challenging that decision; other records describe the removal of six of the 17 previously recommended pediatric shots. The American Academy of Pediatrics has also sued HHS, alleging the restaffing was unlawful and accusing the secretary of undermining public confidence in vaccines.

The shakeup at HHS has extended beyond ACIP. Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, who had been serving as acting CDC director, left his post in recent days. The National Institutes of Health director, Jay Bhattacharya, stepped in as acting CDC director and in a press release praised the new appointees, saying “These appointments strengthen ACIP with experienced clinicians who understand how immunization guidance matters for patients and families.”

The timing of the appointments accompanied a rescheduling of an ACIP meeting that sources said had been postponed after HHS missed procedural deadlines, underscoring tensions over governance and process. BioSpace reported that one of the two new members previously questioned COVID-19 vaccine safety before the Texas Senate in 2021; that claim has not been linked to a specific appointee in HHS materials and has not been publicly corroborated by committee records included with the announcement.

Public health officials and medical organizations have signaled that the composition of ACIP will matter for millions of children and adults whose care depends on federal immunization recommendations. With lawsuits pending and dispute over recent guidance changes, the new appointments are likely to intensify scrutiny of how scientific evidence, clinical experience, and policy priorities are weighed in federal vaccine decision making.