Seventeen vaccine experts who were dismissed from a federal advisory panel last week say they are worried that recent moves by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will destabilize vaccine policy in the US and jeopardize access to lifesaving immunizations.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday removed every member of a scientific committee that advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to use vaccines and pledged to replace them with his own picks.

A senior scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has resigned, warning that changes in leadership may weaken the country's vaccine program.