During his Senate confirmation hearings, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested he wouldn’t undermine vaccines. “I am not going to go into HHS and impose my preordained opinions on anybody at HHS,” he said. “I’m going to empower the scientists at HHS to do their job and make sure that we have good science that is evidence based.”

A panel of vaccine advisers handpicked by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. concluded a two-day meeting with votes to limit the availability of certain flu vaccines. Their concern is a preservative that has been a source of controversy despite ample evidence that it is safe.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and its eight new members, met for the first time Thursday after Health and Humans Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced a “clean sweep” of the panel earlier this month.