WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has named Indian American hematologist-oncologist Dr. Vinay Prasad, an outspoken critic of the agency’s decision to approve Covid shots in children, as its new vaccine chief.

The FDA commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary, announced Tuesday Dr. Prasad would lead the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), the branch responsible for vaccine approvals and other biological products.
A professor at the University of California, San Francisco, in Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, he will replace Dr. Peter Marks. Marks, who assisted in leading Operation Warp Speed during the Covid-19 pandemic, departed the FDA in March. The role has been occupied by an acting director since then.
“Dr. Prasad brings the kind of scientific rigor, independence, and transparency we need at CBER — a significant step forward,” said Makary in a post on X.
Dr. Prasad is well known for his strong views, especially his criticism of how the FDA handled Covid-19 vaccine boosters. He opposed the emergency use authorization of Covid-19 boosters, claiming there was not enough solid data from randomized clinical trials.
In a 2021 blog post and an accompanying video, Prasad suggested the national response to Covid might bring on the collapse of democracy, invoking the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich in Germany.
On the blog that year, Prasad downplayed the anti-vaccine activism of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — now the secretary of health and human services — specifically his role in a 2019 measles outbreak in
In 2024, he publicly criticized his predecessor, Dr. Marks, saying he was “either incompetent or corrupt to authorize a booster without clinical, randomized data.”
After Marks left the FDA, Prasad didn’t hold back his opinion. “You could replace Peter Marks with a bobblehead doll that just stamps approval, and you would have the same outcome at FDA with lower administrative fees,” he posted online. He also called Marks “one of the most dangerous, pro-pharma regulators of the 21st century” and a “mediocre academic.”
Prasad has also denounced the continued use of Covid vaccines in young children, calling it “absurd” and said changes in the virus strain may affect how well the vaccines work and how safe they are.