Over the past few days, the CDC has been all over the headlines, with two major contributing factors to blame.
First, the FDA has changed its COVID-19 vaccine rules.
Second, and this is surely related to the first issue, there has been a major shakeup in leadership at the health agency.
This week, the FDA announced that there were new rules in place in terms of what sort of patients would be advised to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to reports, only those deemed to be at high risk would be recommended for the vaccine. The left went ballistic, which is ironic, since this vaccine was developed during the first Trump administration.
After pushback on the new rules started blowing up, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. stated, “These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors."
“The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three," he said.
Adding to the issues, CDC Director Susan Monarez was reportedly asked to resign from her role, even though she had only been at her post for about a month.
If you guys remember, I previously warned that she could be a problem because she differed with Kennedy on vaccines. The hope was that these two would find a way to work together, but that clearly did not happen.
Quite the opposite was true, actually, as after Monarez refused to resign, the Trump administration said she was being terminated, and she immediately secured legal representation from attorney Abbe Lowell, who previously had Hunter Biden as a client.
While all this was going on, a handful of CDC officials resigned, citing what they said was a regrettable politicization of the agency.
Senate Healthcare, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) immediately posted about the series of events, and let’s just say he is not on the same page as the administration.
He stated, "These decisions directly impact children’s health, and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted. If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) added, "We need leaders at the CDC and HHS who are committed to improving public health and have the courage to stand up for science, not officials who have a history of spreading bogus conspiracy theories and disinformation.”
This is another self-inflicted wound by the administration, and Trump simply cannot afford any more of them. He surely cannot afford to be tossing out members of his administration, particularly ones who only recently assumed their posts. I will ask the same question I asked during the first term: Who is vetting these people?
