A peer-reviewed analysis published in JAMA this week shows reported financial conflicts of interest on federal vaccine advisory committees have dropped to their lowest levels in a quarter-century. The share of members reporting industry ties on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices fell from about 32 % in 2000 to roughly 5 % in 2024, while the Food and Drug Administration’s counterpart panel averaged just 1.9 % since 2016. The findings undercut the rationale Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offered in June when he dismissed all 17 ACIP members, saying the board was “rife with conflicts.” Kennedy has since replaced the panel with seven new appointees and pared back federal recommendations for Covid-19 vaccines, leaving routine shots only for people aged 65 and older or with underlying conditions. In a separate move that deepens the rift between the administration and medical groups, the American Academy of Pediatrics on 19 August published an independent immunization schedule that calls for vaccinating every child between six and 23 months against Covid-19 and continuing to immunise older children who are at heightened risk of severe disease. The academy cited CDC data showing the under-two age group has the highest paediatric Covid-19 hospitalisation rate. Kennedy responded on the social-media platform X, accusing the AAP of being influenced by large pharmaceutical donors and warning that recommendations outside the CDC list are not protected by the 1986 Vaccine Injury Act. AAP President Susan J. Kressly said the group’s advice is grounded in peer-reviewed science and governed by strict conflict-of-interest rules. The policy fight has also spurred internal dissent. More than 750 current and former employees of the Department of Health and Human Services signed a letter released 20 August urging Kennedy to renounce vaccine misinformation and strengthen security for federal health workers after an Aug. 8 shooting at CDC headquarters. The signatories wrote that eroding trust in public-health agencies “puts lives at risk.”