The Health and Human Services Department has appointed a vaccine critic to review recent recommendations from an advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the use of RSV and other shots.

Dr. William “Reyn” Archer III, who served as Texas’s health commissioner between 1997 and 2000, is now overseeing recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on expanding eligibility for respiratory syncytial virus vaccines to high-risk adults aged 50-59, according to Reuters.

In April, the ACIP voted in favor of lowering the age threshold for RSV vaccines for adults with underlying medical conditions like COPD and diabetes. The independent advisory committee for the CDC works to define vaccine policies, access, and vaccine insurance coverage. 

In response to the ACIP’s recommendations, Mr. Archer has asked “for more justification of the expansion given what he described as a ‘possible decline in efficacy with a second dose,’” according to Reuters. He also asked for more information on what adjuvants, the ingredients added to vaccines to create strong immune responses, and platforms were being used for all vaccines that the ACIP voted in favor of recommending.

During the ACIP meeting, the manufacturer of the Axrevy RSV vaccine, GSK, presented trial results showing “robust” immune responses after re-vaccination, according to Reuters. 

A GSK representative told Reuters that while their data showed a drop in efficacy of a single dose over time, it was “not enough to justify vaccination yet.”

Dr. Archer also requested more information for other vaccines that the ACIP now recommends, including GSK’s vaccine for meningitis and Valneva’s vaccine for chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus.

In now-deleted social media posts, Dr. Archer repeatedly criticized vaccine mandates and the “limitations” of the Covid-19 vaccine. 

He suggested in one post that he was pressured to support vaccine mandates without a “scientific counterfactual” during his time as Texas health commissioner. 

In a post that linked to a Trump campaign ad that criticized the measles vaccine, Dr. Archer wrote, “My own son developed autism in early years then took his life at 16,” according to Reuters.

In 2000, Dr. Archer was forced to resign as Texas health commissioner after making “inappropriate” comments to an African American former employee.

The health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is known for his criticism of advisory panels, most recently calling them “probably the most potent mechanism that pharma has,” during a sit-down with a TV personality, Dr. Phil, last week. 

“They know they have a vaccine in the pipeline that they’re going to expect their cronies to rubber stamp,” Mr. Kennedy added. 

Last week, Mr. Kennedy announced a new policy requiring new vaccines to undergo placebo testing before approval.