Conflicts of interest on the federal panels that guide U.S. vaccination policy have fallen to their lowest levels in a quarter-century, according to a peer-reviewed analysis published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study, led by Genevieve Kanter of the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center, found that only 5 percent of members on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) reported any financial conflicts in 2024, down from 42.8 percent in 2000. The trend was similar at the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, where reported conflicts have stayed below 4 percent since 2010 and were zero in ten of those years. Most recent disclosures involved research funding rather than personal income such as consulting fees, stock holdings or royalties, the authors said. The findings undercut repeated claims by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who cited pervasive conflicts when he dismissed all 17 members of ACIP in June and vowed to “clean out corruption.” “Secretary Kennedy is right that conflict of interest is an important issue, but he is wrong that it is present at substantial levels,” study co-author Peter Lurie said. HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard responded that Kennedy remains committed to eliminating both real and perceived conflicts to bolster public trust. The report lands amid a broader shake-up of U.S. vaccine policy. Earlier this month, Kennedy ordered the cancellation of roughly $500 million in contracts for mRNA vaccine research, a move scientists warn could slow pandemic preparedness and cede ground to overseas competitors. Researchers say the new data on advisory-panel integrity suggests existing safeguards are working even as the administration pursues sweeping changes.