Summary
- The Trump administration fired CDC Director Susan Monarez amid turmoil.
- Monarez resisted political vaccine policy changes and refused resignation.
- Dozens of CDC staff, including senior officials, resigned in protest.
- White House supports Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision.
Just a month ago, Susan Monarez was confirmed as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the White House, she was sacked because she was "not aligned with the president's agenda," but she has refused to go. According to the official's attorneys, only Donald Trump has the authority to remove her because she is a Senate-confirmed appointee.
According to reports, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired Monarez for refusing to remove agency personnel and for pledging to limit proven vaccines.
Kennedy, who formerly started an anti-vaccine organization, has long disseminated false information about vaccines and last week imposed additional limitations on who is eligible to receive the Covid vaccine.
Four senior agency leaders resigned as a result of this position, as well as worries about budget cuts and political meddling in CDC's operations. Dozens of CDC employees left their Atlanta offices on Thursday to show solidarity for Monarez and the other officials who have passed away.
Bipartisan worry in Congress has been sparked by the CDC's extreme upheaval, and the Trump administration has received a rare rebuke from typically obedient Republicans.
“She’s been on the job for only three weeks and I am very concerned and alarmed by this removal,”
Susan Collins, the Republican senator from Maine, said of Monarez. Collins said there was “no basis” to remove the CDC director.
Bill Cassidy, another Republican senator who chairs the senate health committee, said that an upcoming meeting of the Department of Health and Human Services committee that advises on vaccine use should be postponed due to the attacks upon the CDC.
“If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership,” Cassidy said, adding that “serious allegations”
have been made about the lack of scientific process in vaccine recommendations.
The attempt to limit access to vaccines, which he referred to as "one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century," should frighten people of all political stripes, according to independent Senator Bernie Sanders.
The administration is allegedly using the CDC to "create policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are intended to harm rather than to improve the public's health," according to the official, Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned his post as director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC on Wednesday.
Daskalakis addressed Leavitt's comments during an interview.
“I find it outrageous that this administration is trying to erase transgender people,”
he said.
“I very specifically used the term pregnant people, and very specifically added my pronouns at the end of my resignation letter to make the point that I am defying this terrible strategy at trying to erase people and not allowing them to express their identities.
So I accept the note from the press secretary and I counter that with: I don’t care.”
How could Kennedy's reshaped vaccine advisory committee change CDC vaccine guidance?
Kennedy dismissed all 17 existing members of ACIP and replaced them with new members, many of whom have expressed skepticism or opposition toward vaccines, including questioning vaccine safety and necessity. This raises concerns about the scientific integrity of future recommendations.
The committee plans to review childhood and adolescent immunization schedules and the use of older vaccines, potentially leading to changes or rollbacks in routine vaccine recommendations.
Since ACIP recommendations influence what vaccines doctors administer, what insurance covers without cost-sharing, and vaccination requirements in schools, changes could reduce vaccine accessibility for many, especially children under programs like Vaccines for Children.