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September 17, 2025<\/p>\n
4 min read<\/p>\n
U.S. Vaccine Guidance Is in Chaos, Fired CDC Director Tells Senators<\/p>\n
Former CDC chief Susan Monarez testified that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., had demanded she rubber-stamp recommendations from his remade vaccine panel<\/p>\n
By Dan Vergano edited by Lauren J. Young<\/span><\/p>\n Kayla Bartkowski\/Getty Images<\/p>\n At a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday, Susan Monarez, the recently fired director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that her erstwhile boss, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., worked to undermine vaccines and the integrity of her agency\u2014implying that this threatened the safety of the U.S. public.<\/p>\n At the hearing, Monarez spoke about her termination in August, after a month on the job as CDC chief. \u201cI had refused to commit to approving vaccine recommendations without evidence [or] fire career officials without cause,\u201d she told senators. \u201cI would not commit to that, and I believe it is the true reason I was fired.\u201d<\/p>\n Monarez testified that Kennedy told her that he intended to change the childhood vaccine schedule in September, and she claimed he had the support of President Donald Trump to enforce sweeping changes to health policy. He asked her to preapprove, without seeing any evidence, vaccine recommendations from a revamped CDC vaccine advisory panel that Kennedy had filled with antivaccination-leaning members. He had also demanded that she fire certain key CDC scientists.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n The Senate hearing was called to follow up on Kennedy\u2019s previous testimony on September 4, in which he responded harshly to questions from lawmakers of both parties about the evidence behind confusing changes to U.S. vaccine policy. Public health groups, including the American Public Health Association and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, have called for Kennedy to resign.<\/p>\n \u201cTurmoil at the top of the nations\u2019 top public health agency is not good for the health of the American people,\u201d said Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana at Wednesday\u2019s hearing. Cassidy, a physician, is chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, which held the hearing.<\/p>\n Other top CDC officials resigned following Monarez\u2019s firing, including the agency\u2019s then deputy director, Debra Houry, who also testified at the Wednesday hearing. \u201cSecretary Kennedy censored CDC science, politicized its processes and stripped leaders of independence,\u201d she said at the hearing. She noted the recent outbreak of measles and flu deaths in unvaccinated or undervaccinated children as pointing to risks ahead. Monarez and CDC leaders, she said, \u201cwere reduced to rubber stamps, supporting policies not based in science and putting American lives at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n In response, a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services that was sent to Scientific American by agency press secretary Emily Hilliard said Monarez\u2019s remarks had \u201cfactual inaccuracies\u201d and claimed that \u201cshe acted maliciously to undermine the President\u2019s agenda and was fired as a result.\u201d Monarez had neglected to implement Trump\u2019s executive orders and made policy and personnel decisions without political approval from Kennedy or the White House, according to the statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve never seen anything like this before in public health. This is totally unacceptable,\u201d says Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. \u201cThe administration has totally lost its credibility,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople will die. People will suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe now have an HHS secretary who does not believe in established science and who listens to conspiracy theorists,\u201d said Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in opening remarks at the hearing.<\/p>\n In August Kennedy announced in a post on X that the Food and Drug Administration had approved the updated 2025\u20132026 COVID vaccines with new restrictions. The updated vaccines are approved only for adults aged 65 or older and those with a preexisting condition that would increase the risk of severe infection. The resulting confusion and disagreement have led some states and physician groups to release their own COVID vaccine recommendations to ensure larger access.<\/p>\n Monarez\u2019s testimony came one day before the CDC\u2019s remade vaccine advisory panel was set to meet to vote on U.S. vaccine recommendations. Panel members will vote on recommendations for vaccines for measles, mumps rubella and varicella and for hepatitis B vaccines on Thursday and on recommendations for the COVID vaccines on Friday.<\/p>\n Kennedy had fired all 17 experts on the panel in June. He has since named 13 handpicked members, and antivaccination activists are among them. Five of those members, none of whom are immunologists or vaccine experts, were only officially named on Monday. Insurers, broadly, don\u2019t have to pay for vaccines that the panel doesn\u2019t recommend, making the members\u2019 votes integral to public health. America\u2019s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the national trade association representing the health insurance industry, announced on Tuesday that private health insurance plans will continue to fully cover all vaccinations that ACIP had recommended as of September 1 through the end of 2026. This move could preemptively sidestep votes that will occur at this week\u2019s ACIP meeting.<\/p>\n An environmental lawyer, Kennedy headed the antivaccination nonprofit group Children\u2019s Health Defense until 2023, when he began a campaign for U.S. president. He ended his campaign with an endorsement for Trump, who, after winning the election, nominated Kennedy to become HHS chief. Senator Cassidy was the deciding vote that advanced Kennedy\u2019s nomination for HHS secretary. At the confirmation hearing, Cassidy had said he felt assured that Kennedy would not upend the vaccine system. At the September 4 hearing, Kennedy told Cassidy, \u201cYou\u2019re wrong,\u201d when the senator said he thought the HHS chief was effectively taking vaccines away from people.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. 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I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" September 17, 2025 4 min read U.S. Vaccine Guidance Is in Chaos, Fired CDC Director Tells Senators Former CDC chief Susan Monarez testified that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., had demanded she rubber-stamp recommendations from his remade vaccine panel By Dan Vergano edited by Lauren J. 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