The Vaccine Intelligence Report: June 24-30

The Vaccine Intelligence Report—brought to you by Vaccinate Your Family—provides clear, fact-based updates on vaccine policy, research, and public health each week. This report is part of Viral Truths, a resource designed to cut through the noise, offering concise information to help navigate the evolving immunization landscape.

THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE

  • HHS released another new ACIP charter that could reshape the committee’s membership, scope, meeting cadence, and relationship to VFC coverage
  • Newly released internal emails show behind-the-scenes pressure on CDC vaccine policy, communications, ACIP membership, and potential VFC program changes
  • A CDC-led study showing Covid vaccines reduced emergency visits and hospitalizations was published in JAMA after reportedly being blocked from MMWR
  • Measles cases continue to rise across several states, with 2026 cases already surpassing last year’s total and new research underscoring the link between lower school vaccination coverage and repeated quarantines during South Carolina’s 2025 outbreak
  • The Ebola outbreak in DRC and Uganda continues to grow, highlighting the lack of a vaccine and treatment for Bundibugyo virus, as France confirms its first case
  • CDC ended its U.S. hantavirus response after all potentially exposed Americans completed monitoring with no U.S. cases reported

NEED TO KNOW

HHS Issues New ACIP Charter, Raising Questions About Committee Structure and Scope

  • Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a new charter for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which is responsible for advising the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the use of vaccines.
  • The latest 2026 charter makes several notable changesfrom prior versions that could affect how the committee is staffed, how recommendations are developed, and which outside perspectives are formally represented in deliberations. See the graphic below for a more detailed breakdown of key changes and this week’s fact check for more on why they matter. 
    • Specifically, the updated charter broadens member qualification language, adds explicit consideration of non-vaccine interventions and international immunization practices, shifts committee governance closer to CDC leadership, removes the expectation that ACIP meet three times per year, and softens language tying ACIP recommendations to coverage for children eligible under the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program.
    • It also changes the liaison organization roster, adding several groups while no longer listing the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG), which withdrew as a liaison member earlier this year, citing concerns about ACIP’s “scientific integrity and evidence-based approach to vaccine policy.”

 

How the 2026 ACIP Charter Changes the Committee’s Framework

null

Sources: 2026 charter, 2024 charter, 2020 charter

  • The new charter is the latest development for a committee that has faced significant turbulence over the last year. ACIP has historically met three times per year—in February, June, and October—but has not met so far in 2026.
    • In June 2025, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 sitting ACIP members and handpickedtheir replacements. After the overhaul was challenged in court, along with other changes to federal vaccine policy, a federal judge halted the appointment of new members while litigation proceeds. The Administration has appealed the ruling and is seeking expedited review.
  • Several public health organizations raised concerns about the updated charter, warning that the changes could weaken “strong, evidence-based leadership on vaccine science” in the U.S.
    • Some experts believe that the Administration is aiming to “retrofit the charter” so that the new appointees meet the criteria for ACIP membership. The preliminary ruling found that most new members lacked the necessary qualifications, including “relevant vaccine-related experience or expertise.”
  • Amid these developments, two independent initiatives—the Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP) at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) and The Evidence Collective—announced new research efforts aimed at strengthening evidence-based vaccine guidance and public trust in vaccines and science.
    • VIP will examine how ACIP and the CDC assess and recommend vaccines and investigate practices to improve the process, with a focus on scientific independence, conflict-of-interest safeguards, transparency, and emergency response protocols.
    • The Evidence Collective will analyze the groups involved in vaccine recommendations to better understand what shapes vaccine recommendation development, regulation, communication, and implementation.
  • While ACIP’s formal role remains intact, the new charter could reshape the process behind some of the country’s most consequential vaccine decisions.

Released Emails Show Behind-the-Scenes Pressure on CDC Vaccine Policy

  • Newly released internal emails from the CDC and HHS are raising fresh questions about political influence over CDC vaccine policy and communications.
    • The emails were released last week (Jun. 25) by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
    • Sanders said the emails were provided to the committee by former CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Debra Houry, who resigned last year after then-CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired.
  • The emails cover several major vaccine policy disputes, including the overhaul of ACIP, political review of CDC decisions, CDC vaccine messaging, and potential changes to the VFC program.
  • The emails shed light on the Administration’s decision to replace all 17 sitting ACIP members in June 2025.
    • Internal notes indicated that Kennedy’s team was focused on replacing members viewed as aligned with the Biden Administration and installing members “more aligned to the Secretary’s agenda.”
    • Kennedy ultimately removed all members, arguingat the time that a “clean sweep” was needed to restore public confidence in vaccine science.
  • Additional emails show that senior HHS officials emphasized the need for political review of major CDC policy decisions.
    • In one email, a senior HHS aide told Monarez’s team that major CDC decisions needed to be reviewed by political staff before taking effect.
    • Monarez was fired shortly afterward and later testified that Kennedy had pressured her to preapprove ACIP recommendations and commit to firing CDC scientists—allegations HHS has denied.
  • One email chain shows that HHS communications officials directed CDC to halt influenza (flu) vaccine advertising during a severe flu season.
    • A CDC official wrote that HHS had asked the agency to pull campaign ad buys related to flu or vaccination and said the request “came directly from the Secretary.”
    • CDC staff raised concerns that stopping an active campaign during a severe flu season could pose reputational and legal risks.
  • The email release also indicated CDC interest in removing vaccines from the VFC program, which provides ACIP-recommended vaccines at no cost to eligible children.
    • A senior advisor to Kennedy asked what “legally needs to happen if a vaccine is going to be removed from the VFC program,” which could affect coverage for approximately 40 million U.S. children.
    • The program has played a major role in childhood vaccine access and is estimated to have prevented hundreds of millions of illnesses among children born since 1994.
  • Taken together, the emails provide a clearer view of internal tensions at CDC during a period of major vaccine policy change and intensify scrutiny of how vaccine recommendations, communications, and access decisions are being shaped under HHS leadership.

Blocked Study Showing Covid Vaccine Benefits Published in JAMA

  • A study finding that Covid vaccines reduced hospitalizations and emergency room visits—originally blocked from publication in a March 2026 CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) by then-Acting Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya—was published in JAMA last week (Jun. 23).
  • The study, conducted with CDC scientists, found that vaccination reduced Covid-related emergency visits by 50% and hospitalizations by 55% among adults from September to December 2025.
    • The findings are consistent with past research showing that Covid vaccination continues to reduce the risk of severe illness in adults, even after accounting for immunity from prior vaccination or infection.
  • Bhattacharya reportedly blocked the study’s publication over concerns about its methodology, which used a test-negative design (TND). This approach is widely used and accepted in vaccine effectiveness research, particularly for respiratory viruses, and has been used in previous MMWR editions.
    • Experts pushed back on Bhattacharya’s rationale, noting that TND has been used for decades and that the study had already undergone CDC’s internal scientific review process.
    • Notably, this type of real-world analysis is especially relevant for evaluating vaccines that are already widely available. In these cases, randomized controlled trials may be impractical or unethical if they require withholding an available vaccine from control groups, potentially increasing participants’ risk and limiting timely public health decision-making.
  • The study’s publication suggests that outside peer reviewers found the analysis scientifically credible, raising additional questions about why it was blocked from CDC’s flagship publication after internal review.
    • Because MMWR is CDC’s primary vehicle for timely public health updates, the decision may have delayed access to real-world vaccine effectiveness data during a period when federal Covid vaccine recommendations were under active debate.
  • More broadly, the incident adds to concerns that federal health agencies are delaying or limiting publication of vaccine research that may conflict with current leadership’s policy direction.

OUTBREAK OUTLOOK

News on respiratory virus season, measles, pertussis, and other vaccine-preventable and infectious disease outbreaks.

Measles Still Rising in Several States as New Research Sheds Light on South Carolina Outbreak

  • As of June 26, the U.S. has reported 2,228 measles cases in 2026—an increase of 32 cases in the last week.
    • This number surpasses the 2,214 measles cases reported in all of 2025, just six months into the year.
    • Public health experts anticipate the U.S. will lose its measles elimination status upon Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) regional reverification in November, as transmission has been ongoing since the West Texas outbreak began in January 2025.
  • Several states reported new or continued measles activity:
    • Arizona officials reported four new cases, bringing the state’s 2026 total to 100 cases as of June 30.
    • California reported one new measles case, bringing the state’s 2026 total to 51.
    • Officials in Connecticut and Wyoming reported each state’s second measles case of 2026.
    • Pennsylvania reported 14 new measles casessince last week, bringing the state’s 2026 total to 87 as of June 29. State officials noted that over 1,300 measles vaccinations have been administered in response to the outbreak.
    • Utah officials reported three new measles cases since last week, bringing the state total to 502 cases in 2026.
    • Virginia remains a current measles hotspot—the state’s 2026 total has risen to 141 cases as of June 30, after officials reported 12 measles cases in the last week.
  • A new report found that during last year’s school-based measles outbreak in South Carolina, schools with repeated quarantines had significantly lower vaccination coverage.
    • The South Carolina outbreak began in October 2025 and was declared over in late April after 997 cases spread across 32 schools, making it one of the largest U.S. measles outbreaks since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.
    • Schools with measles exposures had average vaccine coverage rates of 82.5%, compared to 91% at schools without exposures. Moreover, schools that required multiple rounds of quarantine had even lower average vaccination rates of 77%, compared with 86% among schools that required only a single quarantine.
    • The report cautions that quarantines are a temporary mitigation strategy, and that increased vaccination rates and prevention planning are the strongest tools to reduce the spread of measles.

Ebola Outbreak Grows as Vaccine and Treatment Gaps Complicate Response

  • The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda continues to grow, underscoring major gaps in vaccine and treatment options for less common Ebola virus strains.
  • The outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus, a strain of ebolavirus that has only caused two documented outbreaks before the current one. Unlike outbreaks caused by the Zaire ebolavirus, there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for Bundibugyo virus.
  • That gap has shaped the response. Last week (Jun. 24), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, launched a Request for Expression of Interest from vaccine developers and manufacturers about their plans to develop Bundibugyo vaccine candidates.
    • Gavi has committed $50 million through its First Response Fund, including up to $40 million to help accelerate vaccine access and manufacturing scale-up once promising candidates are identified.
    • At the same time, treatment research is moving forward. A clinical trial in the DRC is expected to test Gilead’s antiviral remdesivir and MappBio’s monoclonal antibody (mAb) MBP-134, alone and in combination, to determine whether either can reduce mortality among patients with Bundibugyo virus disease.
  • The growing outbreak has prompted international concern. France reported its first case of Ebola in a doctor who had returned from the DRC, though authorities said the patient was isolated and any risk to the public remains very low.
  • The White House is also seeking more than $1.4 billion in new Ebola response funding from Congress, including support for supplies, treatments, contact tracing, and efforts to prevent international spread.

CDC Announces End of U.S. Hantavirus Response

  • CDC officials announced the end of the agency’s hantavirus response last Wednesday (Jun. 24) after all U.S. citizens potentially exposed to the virus completed the 42-day quarantine period.
    • In April, an outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus aboard a cruise ship prompted 18 American passengers to be sent to a quarantine unit in Nebraska, while 19 others were monitored at home.
    • Health officials say no cases of hantavirus occurred in the U.S. as a result of the outbreak, and no individuals remain under disease monitoring.
  • Internationally, the outbreak led to 13 confirmed or probable cases and three deaths.

REALITY CHECK

These fact checks respond to several recent claims made by different groups and individuals.

CLAIM: The new ACIP charter is just an administrative update and does not impact vaccine policy.

  • REALITY: While federal advisory committee charter renewals are routine, the 2026 ACIP charter makes substantive changes to the Committee’s structure, focus, and governance—which could lead to confusion and delays in evidence-based decision-making, posing a risk to vaccine access.
    • Specifically, the new charter includes significant changes to membership criteria, meeting cadence, evidence considerations, liaison representation, CDC support, and the relationship between ACIP recommendations and VFC coverage.
  • Typically, ACIP reviews evidence and advises CDC on vaccine recommendations that guide clinicians, shape public health practice, and affect vaccine access across the country. When ACIP recommendations are adopted by CDC, they become official federal guidance and have implications for vaccine coverage, including through private insurance as well as public programs like VFC. Key changes include:
    • Reducing formal expectations around meeting cadence. This could slow the process for reviewing new evidence and updating recommendations and ultimately delay ACIP guidance, which can affect whether providers know what vaccines to recommend, whether families receive clear information, and whether vaccines are consistently covered and available.
    • Changing how evidence may be weighed. New emphasis on adverse events, non-vaccine interventions, and international practices without the same clear emphasis on the benefits of preventing disease. That shift could undermine trust in routine vaccination.
    • Reshaping liaison organization representation.Representation has historically reflected perspectives from experts including pediatricians, family physicians, obstetricians, nurses, and infectious disease specialists. The new charter adds liaison organizations that have been identified as vaccine-skeptical or as having shared false information about vaccines, which could make recommendations less reflective of real-world clinical practice and evidence.
    • Changing language around VFC coverage. The VFC program helps ensure eligible children can receive recommended vaccines at no cost, and any ambiguity about how ACIP recommendations connect to VFC coverage could complicate planning, ordering, and access—particularly for children who rely on the program.
  • Taken together, the charter changes could continue to reshape how vaccine recommendations are developed, communicated, and implemented. A committee with less clearly defined vaccine expertise, fewer formal expectations around meeting cadence, and increased representation from vaccine-skeptical organizations could slow or weaken the process for reviewing new evidence and updating recommendations—with major implications for vaccine access and public health outcomes.

WHAT TO WATCH

Senate Prepares to Advance Key Health Nominees

  • The Senate HELP Committee is expected to holdconfirmation hearings in July for several of the Administration’s top health nominees, including Dr. Erica Schwartz for CDC Director, Dr. Nicole Saphier for Surgeon General, and Sean Kaufman for Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
  • The hearings come as several senior health leadership positions remain vacant across HHS, including permanent leadership at the CDC, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Office of the Surgeon General.
  • Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said he was “very favorably impressed” after meeting Drs. Schwartz and Saphier and indicated he expects the committee to continue advancing qualified nominees.

HHS Continues to Reshape Agency Leadership and Structure

  • The Trump Administration is continuing to fill key health leadership positions, with White House health policy adviser Dr. Heidi Overton reportedly among the finalists to serve as the next FDA commissioner. Other finalists include oncologist Dr. Jeffrey Vacirca and Pentagon health official Dr. Stephen Ferrara, though no nomination has been announced.
  • Separately, Chris Klomp has been nominated to serve as Deputy Secretary for Administration at HHS. If confirmed, Klomp would oversee the department’s administrative operations, including human resources, information technology, procurement, and other management functions across HHS.
  • At CDC, officials are reportedly considering the creation of a new office that would review the agency’s scientific publications, guidance, and other communications before they are released. The proposal would centralize scientific review under agency leadership, which could increase political oversight of CDC scientific communications.

Religious Liberty Commission Report Addresses Vaccine Policies

  • The White House Religious Liberty Commission released its draft report, which includes several recommendations that aim to expand religious exemptions and accommodations from immunization requirements across schools, workplaces, healthcare settings, and the military.
    • The report is open for public comment through July 12 before being finalized.
  • Most notably, the commission recommends that the Department of Justice (DOJ) support litigation and legislation aimed at expanding religious exemptions from school immunization requirements—and tie educational institutions’ federal funding to compliance.
  • The report also calls for federal agencies to take a more active role in enforcing religious accommodation protections, urging the DOJ, HHS, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to open civil rights investigations into entities that “may have violated religious freedom rights by denying religious exemptions.”
    • It also recommends that the Departments of Education, HHS, and EEOC develop guidance on religious accommodations for immunization requirements in school, employment, and healthcare settings.
  • Other recommendations include expanding religious exemptions from immunization requirements for military service members and healthcare workers, as well as prioritizing development of “ethically acceptable alternative vaccines.”
  • If finalized, the recommendations could add federal pressure to ongoing state-level and legal debates over religious exemptions, school immunization requirements, and the balance between religious accommodation and public health protections.

Vaccinate Your Family has launched a new campaign about the importance of maternal vaccination. Read our call to action here.  

Stay informed with weekly updates on vaccine policy and research. Sign up here to receive the weekly Vaccine Intelligence report directly in your inbox.