Columbus health commissioner among 17 vaccine safety panelists fired by RFK Jr.
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Columbus health commissioner among 17 vaccine safety panelists fired by RFK Jr.
Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts was set to assume her role in July. Kennedy touts the panel’s overhaul as a “restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda” Critics assert that dismantling the panel is unnecessary and will be what erodes public trust. The firings come as a national measles outbreak continues to spread in over 30 states primarily among unvaccinated individuals.. While Ohio health officials have declared the state’s own measles outbreak “closed,” whooping cough, another vaccine-preventable illness, is on the rise in the Buckeye State.
Kennedy, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary as well as a prominent vaccine skeptic, fired the panelists for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on June 9. Among them was Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts, who was set to assume her role in July.
CDC vaccine advisory panel context: RFK Jr. fires entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
The firings come as a national measles outbreak continues to spread in over 30 states primarily among unvaccinated individuals. While Ohio health officials have declared the state’s own measles outbreak “closed,” whooping cough, another vaccine-preventable illness, is on the rise in the Buckeye State.
Kennedy touts the panel’s overhaul as a “restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda” and a way to ensure “unbiased science” guides vaccine recommendations. However, critics assert that dismantling the panel is unnecessary and will be what erodes public trust.
Health commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts says decision will create confusion, mistrust
Roberts was appointed by the Biden administration in late 2024 and set to begin as a panelist in July 2025.
The city’s health commissioner was given notice of her “immediate termination” via an email the evening of June 9. She was also thanked for her “prior service and commitment.”
Roberts said she was “deeply concerned” about the firings in a statement.
“For more than 60 years, this panel of experts, including physicians, immunologists, virologists, and epidemiologists, have followed the science to provide vaccine recommendations and guidance to the CDC – a trusted source for pediatricians and parents alike,” Roberts said.
Related public health article: State health director says Ohio measles outbreak ‘closed,’ warns of rise in whooping cough
“This decision will create confusion and sow additional mistrust in the experts – and very vaccines – that protect the health and safety of children, families and our entire community,” Roberts continued in the statement.
Dr. Paul A. Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, told USA TODAY that Kennedy was “fixing a problem that doesn’t exist.”
Member selection for the committee typically involves a three- to four-month vetting process by the CDC, but a source told USA Today that the new panelists would be present at the panels scheduled meeting later in June.
“Now he’s just going to pick people he likes,” Offit added. “Presumably people who are like-minded, and I think that will shake confidence in this committee.”
Medical business and health care reporter Samantha Hendrickson can be reached at shendrickson@dispatch.com