World-renowned infectious-disease epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff — who was fired from Harvard Medical School last year after refusing the COVID vaccine — just got a new gig.

Kulldorff has been named a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.

Kulldorff, who had refused the COVID vaccine because of his infection-acquired immunity, lost his appointment at a Harvard-affiliated hospital in the early days of the COVID era, and in March of 2024 was officially terminated as a med school faculty member.

Since the COVID lockdowns began five years ago this month, Kulldorff argued that tactics such as social distancing, masking children, vaccines after infections, and other extreme measures were not the best course of action to fight the virus.

He co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for sensible tactics that would allow the globe to reach "herd immunity" and has been signed by nearly 1 million scientists worldwide.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in announcing the new members of the panel last week on X, wrote that his selections signify a "major step towards restoring public trust in vaccines."

Kennedy wrote he retired the 17 current members of the committee and is repopulating ACIP with eight new members "committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense."

"They have each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations. The committee will review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule as well," Kennedy stated.

MassLive reported that in 2021, "Kulldorff posted on X that 'thinking that everyone must be vaccinated is as scientifically flawed as thinking that nobody should.'"

"COVID vaccines are important for older high-risk people and their care-takers," he wrote. "Those with prior natural infection do not need it. Nor children."

According to the New York Times, after Kennedy's announcement, some infectious disease and vaccine experts accused the health secretary of going back on his pledge not to pick so-called anti-vaxxers.