The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has chosen a known vaccine skeptic to lead its COVID-19 working group, which was originally established to discuss immunization recommendations at the start of the pandemic.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed to The Hill that Retsef Levi, professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, had been selected to lead the working group.

Levi was among the eight new members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) selected by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he fired all standing members earlier this year.

The CDC’s COVID-19 working group was created in 2020 to discuss immunization recommendations as the pandemic evolved. The group is meant to support the work of ACIP through the review of available data and scientific knowledge.

In 2023, Levi spoke out against mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and called for their usage to be stopped “immediately.”

“All COVID-19 vaccination program should stop immediately. They should stop because they completely fail to fulfill any of their advertised promises regarding efficacy,” Levi said in a video posted on X, further claiming mRNA vaccines were behind the deaths of young people and children.

He cited the risk of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, after administration of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Proponents of COVID-19 vaccinations have argued that the risk of myocarditis is far greater in the case of SARS-CoV-2 infections than immunizations.