RFK Jr.’s HHS rewrites rules governing key CDC vaccine committee | CNN

US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has approved changes to rules that govern an expert group that advises the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its vaccine recommendations. The move, part of Kennedy’s latest effort to reshape the country’s vaccine policy, follows a March court order that temporarily blocked the work of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, and put some of its previous moves on hold. The revisions significantly broaden the scope of the work that falls under the purview of the committee, which had previously limited its focus to making recommendations on the use of vaccines in the United States. In a statement Thursday, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon described the renewal of the committee’s charter as “routine statutory requirements” that “do not signal any broader policy shift.” “Unless officially announced by HHS, any assertions about next steps are speculation,” Nixon added. Additions to the committee’s charter, or rulebook, include several points that have long been priorities of groups that advocate against the use of vaccines. The charter now puts a focus on “identifying