The recently-fired director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a Senate panel on Sept. 17 that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pressured her to preapprove changes to vaccine recommendations from a CDC advisory panel.
Susan Monarez, the ousted director, said in her opening statement during a hearing in Washington that in an Aug. 25 meeting with Kennedy, he directed her to commit to approving every recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which advises the CDC on vaccines.
“He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause,” she said.
She said that Kennedy told her that unless she was willing to preapprove the recommendations and fire the officials, she should resign….