Pediatric Cardiologist Kirk Milhoan Appointed Chair of U.S. Vaccine Advisory Panel

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday appointed pediatric cardiologist Kirk Milhoan as chair of the committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy.

Milhoan takes over from Martin Kulldorff, who began leading the committee in June and is departing to assume a new role at HHS. Kulldorff has been named chief science officer in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, which provides policy guidance to the department’s leadership.

Milhoan said in an interview that the change in leadership does not signal a new direction for the committee.
“Dr. Kulldorff got a very nice position of leadership in HHS, and I think we’re going to continue on the same sort of direction he was going on. I don’t see significant changes at all,” he said.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has questioned vaccine safety, has been rapidly reshaping national vaccination policy. Recent actions include removing recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women and children, issuing guidance to states on restricting vaccine mandates, and reducing support for research involving mRNA vaccines.

A senior Food and Drug Administration official last week linked the deaths of at least 10 children, which is clearly understated, to COVID-19 vaccines and said the agency would overhaul its vaccine approval procedures.

Milhoan said the committee has yet to discuss the issues raised by that memo and has not been tasked with considering it yet.

According to the draft agenda posted on the agency’s website on Monday, the panel is set to discuss hepatitis B vaccines on Thursday and could vote on policies concerning the shots. Earlier in September, the panel had abandoned a vote that would have delayed the first hepatitis B vaccine dose for newborns.

Kennedy appointed Milhoan to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) earlier this year after he fired all its members and replaced them with his own nominees. Milhoan had reportedly backed the use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin—both unproven treatments for COVID-19—to treat the illness during the pandemic.