RFK Jr. Adds Two New Members to CDC Vax Panel

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appointed two more physicians to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) ahead of its March meeting, including one with a history of criticizing vaccines.

An agency press release emphasized that Angelina Farella, MD, and Sean G. Downing, MD, both have experience in pediatrics. Farella has been particularly outspoken against COVID vaccines, which are on the agenda for the committee’s March meeting.

In posts on X, Farella has frequently been critical of COVID shots, referring to them as “medical tyranny.” She’s been a vocal opponent of other vaccines, too, calling respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines “an utter FAILURE!!!” and posting about the pediatric flu shot with the hashtag #StoptheShots.

She also has shared many videos of other COVID contrarians, including ACIP’s controversial current chair, Kirk Milhoan, MD, PhD.

Farella was cited as a member of America’s Frontline Doctors in a 2021 Washington Post article. She appeared on Newsmax that same year, listed as the group’s director of pediatrics.

In the Newsmax segment, Farella criticized the Biden administration’s vaccine and immigration policies. “You know how you fight a pandemic and how you fight disease? You treat it,” she said, suggesting vitamin D and zinc as remedies. “That’s how you crush a pandemic, not by vaccinating.”

Farella owns her own pediatrics practice in Webster, Texas, half an hour southeast of Houston, called A Brighter Tomorrow Family Health and Wellness. In addition to Texas, Farella also holds active medical licenses in Missouri and Alabama. She graduated from the Ross University School of Medicine in 1995 and has no disciplinary record, according to DocInfo.

Unlike Farella, Downing’s social media presence is minimal. He owns his own concierge medicine practice in Sarasota, Florida.

Prior to being licensed in Florida, he was an internal medicine physician in New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Downing graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1997 and has no disciplinary record, according to DocInfo.

As of press time, HHS had not responded to MedPage Today‘s questions about the selection criteria and process for adding these latest members or how ACIP will ensure its vaccine decisions are evidence-based, considering Farella’s vocal opposition.

Kennedy has been dramatically reshaping ACIP since he took office last year, ousting all 17 committee members last June and replacing them with new members within a few days. He added more members in September and this past January. The latest replacements were announced late on a Friday night, which often signals a desire for less attention.

Federal vaccine advisors are set to review the COVID vaccine, long COVID, and “COVID-19 vaccine injuries” on March 18 and 19, according to the Federal Register. The meeting was originally supposed to be last month, but it was postponed.

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