US CDC’s director gets terminated after fight over Covid-19 vaccines
(MENAFN) Susan Monarez has been removed from her role as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after refusing to resign during a dispute over Covid-19 vaccine policy, sparking upheaval and additional resignations among senior health officials.
Monarez, confirmed by the Senate just last month, reportedly clashed with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his efforts to lift vaccine mandates and revoke emergency authorizations.
“Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement on Wednesday, noting that she was terminated after declining to step down voluntarily.
Monarez’s attorneys, Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell, challenged the White House’s version, stating she “has neither resigned nor received notification” of her dismissal. They accused Kennedy of “weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk,” and warned that the situation underscores the “systematic dismantling of public health institutions.”
The conflict emerged as the Food and Drug Administration approved updated Moderna and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines, while withdrawing emergency use authorizations and limiting the shots to higher-risk populations.
Kennedy, a longstanding critic of US vaccination policy, has implemented major changes since assuming the HHS secretary role earlier this year, including disbanding vaccine advisory committees and reducing funding for mRNA research. In a post on X, he described the new plan as delivering “science, safety, and common sense.”
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