WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) – Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired all members sitting on a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel of vaccine experts and is reconstituting the committee, his department said on Monday.

Kennedy removed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement, and is in the process of considering new members to replace them.

“Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,” Kennedy said. “The public must know that unbiased science — evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest — guides the recommendations of our health agencies.”

Kennedy claimed that ACIP is rife with conflicts and has never turned down a vaccine, but the decision to approve vaccines rests with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. ACIP provides guidance to the CDC on which groups of people would most benefit from an already-approved vaccine, and when they should get it.

“That’s a tragedy,” former FDA Chief Scientist Jesse Goodman said of the firings. “This is a highly professional group of scientists and physicians and others… It’s the kind of political meddling that will reduce confidence rather than increase confidence.”