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3w ago

Vaccine Skeptic Retsef Levi to Lead CDC COVID-19 Working Group

The choice follows HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s overhaul of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee earlier this year.

Professor of Operations Management, Retsef Levi, MD, speaks as members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meet at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) advisory panel for vaccines convenes in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Megan Varner/File Photo
Retsef Levi speaks during the first meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee On Immunization Practices at the CDC global headquarters on June 25, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, recently fired and replaced all seven members of the committee. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Overview

  • A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson confirmed Levi’s selection to head the CDC group that reviews COVID-19 immunization data.
  • Levi is a professor of operations management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
  • He was appointed earlier this year as one of eight new members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices after the prior members were removed.
  • The COVID-19 working group, created in 2020, supports ACIP by assessing available evidence to inform immunization recommendations.
  • In 2023, Levi urged halting mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations, citing myocarditis and disputing efficacy claims, while vaccine proponents note myocarditis risk is higher after SARS‑CoV‑2 infection than after vaccination.