CDC vaccine adviser Malone steps down to avoid 'drama'
Source: Roll Call
Posted March 24, 2026 at 4:26pm
Robert Malone, an ideological ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is stepping away from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee following a court ruling that effectively nullified the panel.
Malone was one of several picks by Kennedy in a controversial reworking of the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices last year. Malone said Tuesday that he won’t be a part of any attempt to reform the panel after a feud with HHS personnel on whether the court ruling would be appealed.
A federal judge last week blocked the vaccine panel’s controversial changes to the childhood vaccine schedule and called into question the panel’s validity, essentially kneecapping it from any future actions. Malone posted on social media that the decision wouldn’t be appealed, which was contradicted by HHS spokeman Andrew Nixon.
“After Andrew trashing me with the press, I am done with the CDC and ACIP,” Malone said in a text message Tuesday morning. “That was the last straw.”“Suffice to say I do not like drama, and have better things to do,” Malone added. A physician and biochemist, Malone had questioned the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and, according to FactCheck.org, elevated unfounded claims about the disease.
Read more: https://rollcall.com/2026/03/24/cdc-vaccine-adviser-malone-steps-down-to-avoid-drama/
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