{"id":380781,"date":"2025-08-28T18:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T18:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/380781\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T18:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T18:26:10","slug":"rfk-jr-faces-calls-to-quit-as-cdc-chief-fired-and-senior-staff-resign-an-embarrassment-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/380781\/","title":{"rendered":"RFK Jr faces calls to quit as CDC chief fired and senior staff resign: \u2018an embarrassment\u2019 | Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a tumultuous week for US health agencies, with the departure of several top officials, uncertainty around new Covid<\/a> vaccine restrictions, and even more experts calling for the removal of top health official Robert F Kennedy Jr.<\/p>\n

The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Susan Monarez<\/a>, was fired by the Trump White House after some controversy, and four other top officials also resigned.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The] CDC basically imploded yesterday and now it\u2019s truly in shambles,\u201d said Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist and former senior adviser for the CDC. \u201cThis is a national security risk to Americans. Without steady-headed, evidence-informed leadership, everything from outbreaks to data to chronic diseases to injury is in jeopardy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kennedy also released controversial and confusing restrictions on Covid vaccines on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m worried that these confusing changes will cause chaos in the vaccine distribution system that will make it harder for people\u2013even those at high risk of severe illness\u2013to get the Covid vaccines they may want,\u201d said Jennifer Nuzzo, a professor of epidemiology and director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University school of public health.<\/p>\n

The chaos on Wednesday intensified scrutiny of Kennedy after controversial moves on vaccines and the shooting at the CDC reportedly motivated by anti-vaccine briefs.<\/p>\n

Kennedy \u201chas to go\u201d, said Colin Carlson, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale University\u2019s school of public health, who has joined other health professionals<\/a> to call<\/a> for his resignation or termination.<\/p>\n

Monarez, who was confirmed as the CDC head only weeks ago on July 31, was released from her post on Wednesday evening per a post<\/a> on X by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).<\/p>\n

But lawyers representing Monarez, Mark S. Zaid and Abbe Lowell, responded in a statement<\/a> posted to Bluesky that she had neither resigned nor been fired.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe will not resign,\u201d Zaid wrote.<\/p>\n

Monarez had refused to \u201crubber-stamp reckless, unscientific directives,\u201d the statement said. An hour and a half later, the White House doubled down and said<\/a> Monarez had officially been fired.<\/p>\n

Four other top officials at the CDC also resigned on Wednesday including Debra Houry, the CDC\u2019s chief medical officer; Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; Daniel Jernigan, the director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; and Jennifer Layden, director of the office of public health data, surveillance and technology.<\/p>\n

Daskalakis wrote in his resignation letter<\/a> that he had \u201cnever experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end\u201d.<\/p>\n

Daskalakis, a key figure in the Covid, mpox, and bird flu responses, added that \u201cno CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary\u201d \u2013 during the worst measles outbreak<\/a> in the US in decades that left two children and one adult dead.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Wednesday, Kennedy announced<\/a> on X that updated mRNA Covid boosters were being approved for people \u201cat higher risk\u201d. There was no press release from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).<\/p>\n

The Pfizer vaccine is approved for anyone who is 5 years old or older with health conditions. The emergency use authorization for Pfizer\u2019s pediatric vaccine was rescinded, as the Guardian previously reported<\/a> might happen \u2013 which means it is no longer available to children under 5.<\/p>\n

The Moderna vaccine is approved for anyone over the age of 6 months with health conditions. That appears to mean there are no Covid vaccines available for children or adults without health conditions, as the summer Covid wave intensifies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet Kennedy also appeared to contradict himself in the post, writing: \u201cThese vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kennedy \u201cvery much contradicted himself yesterday, making a confusing situation even more confusing\u201d, Jetelina said.<\/p>\n

FDA head Marty Makary said<\/a> on X that any adult may choose to get the Covid vaccine. The officials seem to be referring to a practice known as off-label use, where a physician prescribes a medication for a use other than what it was approved for, Nuzzo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s possible for people who are not eligible to get them off label. But whether they will practically be able to do that is another question,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In some states, pharmacists and other vaccinators are unable to administer vaccines to people who are not explicitly eligible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also dubious whether doctors will be willing to vaccinate off label, possibly worrying about legal risks. We\u2019re already hearing about pregnant women being unable to get Covid vaccines after the secretary tweeted,\u201d Nuzzo said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not yet clear which higher-risk conditions may qualify. The CDC has a list for previous vaccines, but in May top FDA officials proposed<\/a> a more stringent list of conditions. The proposed list included pregnancy, the recommendation for which Kennedy removed in May.<\/p>\n

There is confusion about whether patients may self-attest to a condition or if they need to provide proof \u2013 which may make it difficult for pharmacists and other vaccinators to interpret and implement the new rules. These restrictions may also make it harder for people to access the vaccines even when they\u2019re eligible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is another way to reduce access to vaccines: Mass confusion,\u201d Jetelina said.<\/p>\n

Usually the CDC\u2019s independent advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP) meets to issue recommendations for the updated shots. Right now, the ACIP website lists<\/a> the August\/September meeting as \u201cTBD\u201d. These recommendations affect insurance coverage of the vaccines.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s moves are only part of the bedlam currently within US health agencies.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Kennedy said in a cabinet meeting that a fast-paced research project on autism was to identify \u201ccertain interventions\u201d that are \u201calmost certainly causing autism\u201d. He said these results would be announced in September.<\/p>\n

This project, which included the creation of a national research registry<\/a> of autistic people, has been panned<\/a> by researchers and advocates as an unscientific attempt to link vaccines to autism.<\/p>\n

Last week, the CDC appointed Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan school of management, to lead an ACIP task force on Covid vaccines. Levi has said<\/a> mRNA vaccines \u201ccause serious harm including death, especially among young people\u201d, adding: \u201cWe have to stop giving them immediately!\u201d<\/p>\n

Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, called<\/a> on Wednesday for Kennedy to be fired, writing: \u201cwe cannot let RFK Jr. burn what\u2019s left of CDC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kennedy is \u201can embarrassment to both sides of the aisle\u201d, said Carlson. \u201cSeeing Patty Murray and the American Public Health Association (APHA) come to the same conclusion \u2013 that RFK has to go \u2013 gives me a lot of hope. Let\u2019s fight. I think we can win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been a tumultuous week for US health agencies, with the departure of several top officials, uncertainty around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-380781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115107803072658091","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}