The White House fired Dr Susan Monarez, director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), last Wednesday after she had refused to resign, leading to several other key officials also walking out, reports the BBC.
In announcing her departure earlier, the government said Monarez was “not aligned with the President’s agenda”, prompting a statement from her lawyers who said she had not been told of her removal and would not resign.
They said she was being targeted for refusing “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts”, and accused Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr of “weaponising public health”.
A long-time federal government scientist, Monarez was nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the CDC and was confirmed in a Senate vote along party lines in July.
Her nomination followed Trump withdrawing his first pick, former Republican Congressman Dave Weldon, who had come under fire for his views on vaccines and autism.
However, almost immediately after Monarez’s departure was first announced, at least three senior CDC leaders resigned from the agency.
Among them was Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who warned about the “rise of misinformation” about vaccines and who had also argued against planned cuts to the agency’s budget.
Daniel Jernigan, who led the National Centre for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, also quit, citing “the current context in the department”.
Head of the National Centre for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases, Demetre Daskalakis, also said he was no longer able to serve “because of the ongoing weaponising of public health”.
There are reports that Dr Jennifer Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology, has also resigned.
The exodus comes as health experts voice concern over the agency’s approach to immunisations under the leadership of Kennedy.
Earlier last Wednesday, the FDA approved new Covid vaccines while limiting who could receive them.
The jabs will be available for all seniors, but younger adults and children without underlying health conditions will be excluded.
“The emergency use authorisations for Covid vaccines, once used to justify broad mandates on the general public during the Biden administration, are now rescinded,” Kennedy wrote.
Monarez’s departure comes about a week after a union representing CDC employees announced that about 600 CDC employees had been fired.
The wide-ranging layoffs included employees working on the government’s response to infectious diseases, including bird flu, as well as those researching environmental hazards and handling public record requests.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
US health experts unite to clamour for Kennedy’s removal
Kennedy officially rescinds certain flu jabs
US jab committee green-lights flu shots, omits those ‘tied to autism’