ATLANTA — The firing of the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the resignation of several high-profile agency leaders pose immediate challenges to the operations of the nation’s premier public health agency, experts said.
Jim O’Neill, a top deputy to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will serve as acting director of CDC, an administration official confirmed on Thursday.
He now takes over for Dr. Susan Monarez until a new permanent CDC director is confirmed by the Senate.
Monarez was the first CDC director to require Senate confirmation under a law that took effect in 2023. Replacing her would require President Donald Trump to nominate a new director, who would then need to be considered and confirmed by the Senate.
On Thursday, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said the high-profile departures will “require oversight” of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which he chairs.
Replacing the leaders in the other positions, including those who held the jobs for years, will be difficult, Dr. Anne Schuchat, former principal deputy director of the CDC, said.
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“The four people who resigned led important parts of the agency and had the respect of the nation and the world,” she said.
Kennedy addressed Monarez’s firing during a news conference on Thursday.
“There’s a lot of trouble at CDC, and it’s going to require getting rid of some people over the long term in order for us to change the institutional culture and bring back pride and self-esteem and make that agency the stellar agency that it’s always been. I’m very confident in the political staff that we have down there now that they’re going to be able to accomplish that and ensure the competent functionality of that agency,” Kennedy said.
How could the changes affect average Americans?
The clash at CDC was apparently triggered by conflict over changes in policy regarding recommendations for COVID-19 vaccinations that could make getting a shot more complicated for people.
The Food and Drug Administration approved updated COVID-19 shots on Wednesday, but limited their use for many Americans — and removed one of the two vaccines available for young children. The new jabs from three manufacturers are approved for all seniors, but the FDA narrowed their use for adults and children to those with high-risk health conditions, such as asthma or obesity.
The FDA approval is typically reviewed by a CDC vaccine advisory committee, which makes recommendations for use. Monarez said she would not automatically sign off on recommendations of the committee, which was handpicked by Kennedy, according to Dr. Richard Besser, a former CDC acting director. (Besser is now president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which helps support The Associated Press Health and Science Department.)
The changes present new barriers to access for millions of Americans, who would have to prove their risk, and others who may want the shots but suddenly no longer qualify. The vaccines were previously recommended for Americans 6 months and older.
“These decisions, made without supporting evidence, reflect a troubling pattern by HHS of interfering in the relationship between patients and their healthcare providers and limiting access to vaccines — public health tools proven to save lives and reduce costs,” said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease researcher.
In addition, the disruption at the CDC could jeopardize many local health services undergirded by the agency’s support and expertise, Schuchat noted. That could mean tracking a simmering infectious disease outbreak, such as measles, or outbreaks of foodborne illness.
“It’s the water that you drink, the lead in your pipes. Look around your community,” Schuchat said. “If people are doing well and healthy, it’s probably partly because of the CDC.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.