Public health and access to lifesaving vaccines are on the line in a high-stakes leadership battle at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.鈥檚 push to fire CDC director is more than an administrative shake-up. The firing marks a major offensive by Kennedy to seize control of the agency and impose an anti-vaccine, anti-science agenda that will have profound effects on the lives and health of all Americans, public health leaders say.
Kennedy wants to see the Pfizer and Moderna covid-19 vaccines pulled from the market, according to two people familiar with the planning who asked not to be identified because they鈥檙e not authorized to speak to the press. He鈥檚 also set his sights on restricting or halting access to some pediatric immunizations, some public health leaders say.
His actions have already reduced federal help to states, creating the potential for more infectious disease outbreaks and incidences of foodborne illness. Some public health leaders say they expect Kennedy will use the CDC to publicize health information that isn鈥檛 grounded in science.
鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy season,鈥 said , former acting CDC director during the Obama administration. 鈥淧eople want information they can trust to make critical decisions about their health. Until now, we鈥檝e been able to say look at the CDC. Unfortunately, we鈥檙e not able to do that anymore.鈥
HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard disputed the criticism.
鈥淪ecretary Kennedy remains firmly committed to delivering on President Trump鈥檚 promise to Make America Healthy Again, dismantling the failed status quo that fueled a nationwide chronic disease epidemic and eroded public trust in our public health institutions,鈥 Hilliard said in a statement.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai said Kennedy and Commissioner of Food and Drugs Marty Makary have reiterated that covid shots will remain available for Americans who need and want them.
鈥淭he Trump administration is restoring Gold Standard Science as the sole guiding principle of health decision-making,鈥 Desai said in an email. 鈥淥nly the Fake News could ignore these facts to continue pushing Democrat talking points and hysteria.鈥
Behind the Ouster
The shake-up began last week, when Kennedy sought to fire Monarez, a microbiologist who鈥檇 just been confirmed by the Senate in July. She the position, and her lawyers said Kennedy sought to oust her because she wouldn鈥檛 fire senior staff or follow unscientific directives. at the CDC resigned on Aug. 27 in protest.
Career staffers at the CDC and some public health groups had hoped President Donald Trump would intervene and put the brakes on Kennedy. Instead, the White House backed Kennedy, saying .
Trump on Sept. 1 demanded that drug companies show that covid vaccines work, in a further sign he鈥檚 not set on defending the shots.
鈥淚 hope OPERATION WARP SPEED was as 鈥楤RILLIANT鈥 as many say it was. If not, we all want to know about it, and why???鈥 Trump said on .
Operation Warp Speed was the initiative that Trump himself announced in 2020 to accelerate the development of covid vaccines, including the Pfizer and Moderna shots. The vaccines have proved safe and effective in multiple clinical trials; a study published in JAMA Health Forum estimated that they worldwide.
CDC staffers are worried the agency鈥檚 next director won鈥檛 fight for science, according to an employee who asked not to be identified for fear of professional retaliation.
Trump鈥檚 support for Monarez鈥檚 ouster was a watershed moment that signaled there are no checks on Kennedy and his agenda, public health advocates say. Leading congressional Democrats such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer . Hundreds of HHS staffers have also implored Congress to intervene, saying Kennedy and public health. He is slated to before the Senate Finance Committee.
Kennedy said in a message to CDC staff that his focus is on boosting the agency鈥檚 reputation and leadership. The Atlanta-based agency was already reeling after the Trump administration pushed out thousands of its staff and a gunman who reportedly believed the covid vaccine had caused him health problems fired hundreds of rounds at its campus last month, killing a police officer.
鈥淭he CDC must once again be the world鈥檚 leader in communicable disease prevention. Together, we will restore trust,鈥 Kennedy wrote. 鈥淭ogether, we will rebuild this institution into what it was always meant to be: a guardian of America鈥檚 health and security.鈥 He said his deputy, Jim O鈥橬eill, would serve as acting CDC director.
Nine former CDC directors or acting directors who served under both Republicans and Democrats criticized Kennedy in the aftermath of the Monarez firing, saying in an op-ed in The New York Times that on public health is 鈥渦nacceptable, and it should alarm every American, regardless of political leanings.鈥
HHS spokesperson Hilliard took exception with this point, listing four covid vaccines that continue to get the nod for use.
However, the Food and Drug Administration last week approved updated covid mRNA boosters only for people 65 or older and others at high risk of complications. The CDC has also stopped recommending the shots for healthy children and pregnant women. Previously, the shots had been advised for .
As a result, many people who don鈥檛 meet the criteria but want the vaccine will have to get prescriptions or consult with their doctors. Insurance may not always cover the shots, which can run . Major drugstores such as have said the shots may not be available at all pharmacies and may require a prescription.
The on Aug. 19 broke with the administration, recommending that all young children get the covid vaccine. Insurance still may not cover the cost in some cases and parents could face obstacles in getting the vaccines without a prescription.
Next Move: The Advisory Committee
Kennedy and his team changed official covid vaccine recommendations even though there have been no new safety issues. A dose of the 2023-24 covid mRNA vaccine prevented significant illness and death across all age groups, according to a led by a University of Michigan researcher. The virus killed about in the U.S. in mid-January, and cases are rising again and expected to accelerate this winter.
Kennedy has handpicked a vaccine advisory committee for the CDC that is reviewing mRNA-based covid vaccines, which he in 2021 were 鈥渢he deadliest vaccine ever made.鈥 The covid vaccine review is being led by , a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has said without evidence that the shots cause , including death. If the committee recommends against them, Kennedy and the FDA could then begin the process of removing them from the market.
Taking mRNA-based covid shots off the market would leave consumers with fewer options for protection. Paxlovid, an antiviral medication that treats the infection in high-risk adults, would be available.
The CDC advisory committee reviewing the covid shots is also probing a long-debunked link between aluminum, used in many childhood immunizations such as those for hepatitis A and pneumonia, and autism or allergies.
The group鈥檚 findings are expected to support the erroneous link, some public health officials say. HHS could then require drugmakers to undertake costly reformulations of the shots or stop manufacturing them altogether.
鈥淭hat would set up the elimination of all childhood vaccines,鈥 Besser said.
The advisory group鈥檚 is set for Sept. 18, although Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has called for the . Cassidy, a physician who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, voted for Kennedy鈥檚 confirmation as HHS secretary , he said, that the longtime vaccine opponent wouldn鈥檛 disrupt the U.S. vaccination system. Kennedy鈥檚 promises, Cassidy said, included that he wouldn鈥檛 change the CDC鈥檚 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Kennedy removed all of the panel鈥檚 members in June and replaced them with his own appointees, including anti-vaccine activists.
Kennedy鈥檚 move to put his stamp on the CDC means states that have long relied on the agency鈥檚 expertise and help in crises such as disease outbreaks will largely be left to fend for themselves, said , who served as President Joe Biden鈥檚 covid response coordinator from 2022 to 2023.
鈥淪tates are going to be left on their own,鈥 Jha said. 鈥淪tates will struggle with the CDC incapable and dysfunctional. Our system is not designed for states to go it alone.鈥
The CDC typically plays by assisting states with disease surveillance, public health interventions, and outbreak response, especially when a crisis spills across state lines. An outbreak of measles this year led to more than 1,400 cases nationwide, and states including Texas, where the outbreak was identified, from the CDC.
A CDC program that has long tracked pathogens in food has already of hazards it looks for from eight to two, which public health leaders say is making it harder to identify outbreaks. Staff overseeing a CDC program that tracks outdoor pollution that can exacerbate asthma also have been cut.
The agency runs a hotline that doctors around the country can call to get treatment and other types of advice. Under Kennedy鈥檚 watch, the CDC has had to pare assistance because of staffing reductions, said Wendy Armstrong, vice president at the .
鈥淟ives are 100% at stake, no question about it,鈥 Armstrong said. 鈥淭hat you can no longer trust the recommendations out of the CDC is just devastating. It鈥檚 appalling to think we can鈥檛 trust that information is science-based anymore.鈥
Kennedy wants to shake up CDC leadership because he sees the agency as the heart of corruption and resistance within the federal health bureaucracy, according to people familiar with his planning. Kennedy has said the agency suffers from .
Many public health leaders, however, view the CDC as under siege by an administration they say is corrupting science for its own ends. HHS staffers signed that now has more than 6,800 signatures, saying Kennedy is 鈥渆ndangering the nation鈥檚 health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information.鈥
Kennedy has also been fending off mounting criticism of his response to the shooting at the CDC鈥檚 headquarters. He responded to the attack on social media, hours later, after first posting .
Some younger staffers are considering leaving and some workers feel like the shooting accelerated Kennedy鈥檚 overhaul of the agency, the CDC employee said.
With the battle for control of the CDC still raging, public health leaders are now looking to Congress to put the brakes on Kennedy. Some Republican lawmakers have called for a review of Kennedy鈥檚 actions.
鈥淭hese high profile departures will require oversight by the HELP Committee,鈥 Cassidy on the social platform X. Cassidy had backed Monarez to lead the agency.
Renuka Rayasam, 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News senior correspondent, and Andy Miller contributed to this article.
