Public comment: CDC’s vaccine advisers should follow the science

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During the public comment period at the June 25–26, 2025, meeting of CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), BCHC Executive Director Chrissie Juliano said the following on behalf of BCHC:

Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment today. 

My name is Chrissie Juliano, Executive Director of the Big Cities Health Coalition.

The Big Cities Health Coalition is made up of leaders from 35 of the country’s largest metropolitan health departments, which collectively protect the health and well-being of 61 million Americans – 20% of our nation’s population.

We are disappointed in Secretary Kennedy’s recent decision to dismiss without cause all 17 prior ACIP members. Among them was my colleague and BCHC Board member, Dr. Mysheika Roberts, health commissioner for the city of Columbus, Ohio, who was scheduled to join the committee in July. 

Local health departments play an important role in vaccination. So many people in communities across the country go to their health departments, not just for vaccines themselves, but to get their questions answered and concerns addressed by people they know and trust. Our members and their colleagues across the country take this responsibility seriously, and they do it every day. 

In the same way that residents look to public health leaders for vaccine advice and guidance, they look to ACIP for vaccine recommendations. But with all due respect to the new committee members, there is genuine worry about whether that will remain the case.    

For more than 60 years, ACIP has provided independent, science-based, nonpartisan, and objective vaccine recommendations. Clinicians, health departments, and families across this country rely on these recommendations. 

At a time when trust in public health is already low, the sudden dismissal of an entire committee will only cause additional confusion and distrust. 

Vaccines are one of public health’s greatest accomplishments. They prevent disease and save lives. 

Before widespread vaccination, nearly one in five American children died before their fifth birthday. The most common cause of those premature deaths was infectious diseases that are now preventable. 

For a time, because of incredible advances in vaccine science and high immunization rates, diseases like measles and polio were eliminated in this country. But as we’ve seen with measles over the past few months, vaccine-preventable diseases are making a comeback – and some children have already died as a result. 

ACIP recommendations are critically important. They ensure that vaccinations are covered by most insurance plans, and that children without insurance coverage – or whose insurance plans do not include vaccine coverage – can still receive them.

The Big Cities Health Coalition is deeply concerned that many routine vaccines may soon become inaccessible or unaffordable for millions of Americans if ACIP makes changes based on ideology rather than science. The stakes are simply too high to let that happen. 

We urge – and expect – the new members of this committee to do what ACIP has always done, and what health department officials do every day: follow the science, support the evidence, and make decisions that are in the best interests of people’s health. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to provide comment.

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