(LifeSiteNews) — An immunization committee whose members were selected by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is supporting a tweak to the childhood vaccination schedule.
Over the course of a two-day meeting last week, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend against the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine for children under the age of 4 due to concerns about febrile seizures.
Per the Daily Caller, the committee also voted “to recommend Hepatitis B testing for mothers but delayed an anticipated vote that would have postponed the first dose of Hepatitis B vaccine from the day of birth to one month of age. Instead, children ages 12-15 months would receive separate MMR and varicella shots.”
ACIP chairman Martin Kulldorff emphasizes that “every child will have access to be vaccinated against” measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chickenpox).
ACIP voted to recommend standalone chickenpox vaccination in toddlers to reduce their risk of febrile seizures. pic.twitter.com/bXxP1d0hsg
— CDC (@CDCgov) September 19, 2025
The committee’s continued endorsement of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, however, comes just weeks after Kennedy argued for a link between the vaccine and autism.
“In 2002, CDC did an internal study of Fulton County, Georgia, children, and looked at children who got the MMR vaccine on time and compared those to kids who got them later. The data from that study showed that black boys who got the vaccine on time had a 260% greater chance of getting an autism diagnosis than children who waited,” he explained during a Senate hearing.
mRNA pioneer Dr. Robert Malone noted on social media platform X recently argued that there needs to be better guiding principles at the CDC.
“Someone has to start enforcing higher scientific standards on the CDC. It has been operating on autopilot without an on-site director for years. I guess it is going to be up to the ACIP members to start holding the CDC personnel to more rigorous scientific standards. Tiresome. Not our job, we are unpaid volunteers, but someone has to do it,” he said.
True story.
Someone has to start enforcing higher scientific standards on the CDC. It has been operating on autopilot without an on-site director for years. I guess it is going to be up to the ACIP members to start holding the CDC personnel to more rigorous scientific… https://t.co/coHi25eueq— Robert W Malone, MD (@RWMaloneMD) September 22, 2025
Kennedy has taken an aggressive approach in his bid to “Make America Healthy Again.” In June, he removed all 17 members of the ACIP, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Medical freedom activists praised the move as an overdue ousting of Big Pharma’s influence on the committee while industry lobbyists expressed outrage.
Last month, Kennedy revoked emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 shot. In May, he removed the COVID shot from the CDC’s recommended schedule for healthy children (ages 6 months and older) and pregnant women. Relatedly, Florida’s surgeon general declared that the state would end all vaccine mandates for children.
In August, Kennedy announced he was “winding down” almost $500 million worth of mRNA vaccine projects and rejecting future exploration of the technology in favor of more conventional vaccines. He also denounced the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for recommending vaccines created by its top corporate supporters without disclosing conflicts of interest.
