CDC vaccine advisers who were removed from committee by RFK Jr. speak out

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4. Here's what they said:

"As former ACIP members, we are deeply concerned that these destabilizing decisions, made without clear rationale, may roll back the achievements of U.S. immunization policy, impact people's access to lifesaving vaccines, and ultimately put U.S. families at risk of dangerous and preventable illnesses," the former advisers wrote.

The group argued that, despite recent suggestions by Kennedy, health care providers have historically trusted the CDC's advisory committee to provide vaccine recommendations.

They noted that 99 of every 100 children in the U.S. have received at least some of the committee's recommended vaccines by the time they are 2 years old, citing CDC data.

The former advisers cited research showing that routine vaccination of about 117 million kids from 1994 to 2023 likely prevented 508 million lifetime cases of illnesses, 32 million hospitalizations and over 1.1 million deaths.

Those millions of vaccinations equate to a net saving of $540 billion in direct costs and $2.7 trillion in societal costs, according to the group.