RFK Jr. Touts CDC’s Measles Response As Justification For Agency Shake-Up
In an op-ed, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. writes of the need to restore trust in the agency. But the director of the Dallas County Health Department disputes whether CDC policies helped end the outbreak, noting: “The accessibility and availability of CDC now is nothing like it has been in the past, or should be, and to claim that now this is the model for CDC is really — it’s just not true.”
The Hill:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Defends CDC Changes, Cites Measles Success
The largest single measles outbreak the country has endured in more than 30 years is being hailed as a success story by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In a Wall Street Journal opinion article published Tuesday defending his overhaul of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Kennedy said the administration’s response to the outbreak that began in West Texas is a testament to what a “focused CDC can achieve.” (Weixel, 9/2)
The Hill:
More Than 1,000 HHS Staff Call On RFK Jr. To Resign
More than 1,000 current and former employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are demanding that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resign, following his ousting of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other actions they say are “compromising the health of the nation.” (Weixel, 9/3)
NBC News:
Key GOP Senator Declines To Elaborate On Planned 'Oversight' Of RFK Jr. After CDC Exodus
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the chair of the health committee, is holding his cards close to the vest, declining to elaborate after he said he will conduct “oversight” of the country's top health official and a recent shake-up at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cassidy, a doctor who has been supportive of vaccines, is in a delicate position as the top Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee who provided a pivotal vote to confirm Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he secured assurances about vaccines. Cassidy is also running for re-election next year. (Kapur, Leach and Thorp V, 9/3)
The Washington Post:
Paul Offit, Prominent RFK Jr. Critic, Blocked From FDA Vaccine Committee
Paul Offit, a pediatrician who has sparred with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over childhood vaccination, has been blocked from participating in a vaccine advisory committee for the Food and Drug Administration. An HHS spokesman said Offit was among a dozen members of eight FDA advisory panels who were notified they can no longer participate because their terms as special government employees expired. (Roubein, 9/2)
The Hill:
Rand Paul: Gay CDC Director’s ‘Lifestyle’ Disqualified Him From Government
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said a gay leader at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who resigned last week in protest of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had “no business being in government” due to the “lifestyle” he led. Demetre Daskalakis, former director of the CDC’s Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, was among the four CDC leaders who resigned last week, saying in their resignations that the changes under Kennedy were preventing them from carrying out the agency’s public health mission. (Choi, 9/2)
KFF Health News:
At CDC, Worries Mount That Agency Has Taken Anti-Science Turn
Public health and access to lifesaving vaccines are on the line in a high-stakes leadership battle at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to fire CDC director Susan Monarez is more than an administrative shake-up. The firing marks a major offensive by Kennedy to seize control of the agency and impose an anti-vaccine, anti-science agenda that will have profound effects on the lives and health of all Americans, public health leaders say. (Armour, 9/3)
In related news about the covid vaccine —
The New York Times:
Trump Wants Proof That Covid Vaccines Work. It’s Easy To Find.
In a message on social media that baffled many scientists, President Trump questioned the effectiveness of the Covid vaccines and demanded that the makers prove that they work. It is unclear what data Mr. Trump was referring to. Hundreds of reports have tracked the efficacy of the vaccines since they first debuted in 2021. The shots have saved millions of lives in the United States and elsewhere, dozens of studies have estimated. Still, in some ways, Mr. Trump’s demand for data is a welcome change from what administration officials have been saying recently about vaccines, said John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology and Immune Health at the University of Pennsylvania. (Mandavilli and Zimmer, 9/2)
KFF Health News:
Do Pediatricians Recommend Vaccines To Make A Profit? There’s Not Much Money In It
It makes sense to approach some marketing efforts with skepticism. Scams, deepfakes, and deceptive social media posts are common, with people you don’t know seeking to profit from your behavior. But should people extend this same skepticism to pediatricians who advise vaccines for children? Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said financial bonuses are driving such recommendations. (Czopek, 9/3)
CNN:
Pentagon Facing Its Own Covid Vaccine Controversy
Frustration is boiling over among some members of the military community who are unhappy with the Pentagon’s process for reinstating service members discharged under the Biden administration for failing to be vaccinated for Covid-19, saying the process is too slow and the criteria for who can rejoin too narrow. Exasperation over the process has been on full display in heated public exchanges on social media with Trump administration officials in the Pentagon. (Britzky, 9/2)
