Financial conflicts of interest on the federal panels that advise the U.S. government on vaccines have reached historic lows, according to a peer-reviewed analysis published Monday in JAMA. The study found that just 5% of members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reported a conflict in 2024, down from nearly 43% in 2000. On the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, the share fell from 11% to zero over the same period. The findings undercut assertions by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has repeatedly argued that the advisory bodies are riddled with industry influence and has pledged to overhaul them. Kennedy, confirmed earlier this year, has already shaken up federal vaccine policy by replacing committee members and pausing some funding for mRNA vaccine development. The JAMA data suggest the panels had largely addressed conflict-of-interest concerns before Kennedy took office, complicating his narrative of widespread corruption.