Susan Monarez was terminated after 29 days as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to change the immunization schedule for children, the fired director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention testified on Sept. 17.
Susan Monarez said during a Senate Health Committee hearing in Washington that Kennedy said during an Aug. 25 meeting that the childhood vaccine schedule would be changed in September.
“We got into an exchange where I had suggested I would be open to changing childhood vaccine schedules if the evidence or science were supportive, and he responded that there was no science or evidence associated with the childhood vaccine schedule,” Monarez said.
“Any potential changes to the childhood vaccine schedule will be based on the latest available science and only after the ACIP recommends it and the Acting CDC Director reviews and approves those recommendations,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC’s parent agency, told The Epoch Times in an email.
Monarez said, “The childhood vaccine schedule has been vetted and validated through science and evidence.”
Every vaccine on the schedule is important, she said.
“I think that every parent should have the opportunity to talk to their pediatrician to make sure that they understand the benefits and the risks of those vaccines, and what is in the best interest of their children,” she said.
The COVID-19 vaccine was removed from the schedule for healthy children earlier this year, under orders from Kennedy. Dr. Debra Houry, who recently resigned from the CDC following the termination of Monarez, said Wednesday that she was never shown data supporting the change.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which advises the CDC on vaccines, is scheduled to meet on Sept. 18 and Sept. 19 to consider advising the CDC to change recommendations for three vaccines, including the hepatitis B vaccine.
Monarez told senators that in the Aug. 25 meeting, Kennedy directed her to commit to approving every recommendation from the ACIP..
“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.
“I responded that I could not preapprove recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis to fire scientific experts,” Monarez said.
She was fired shortly after, the White House and health officials said on Aug. 27.
Kennedy told senators earlier this month that he did not pressure Monarez to preapprove recommendations from ACIP.
Kennedy said that Monarez had pledged not to sign off on any advice from the committee and that he met with her to secure a promise that she would be open to approving committee recommendations.
The White House has said that Monarez was fired because she was not aligned with the Make America Healthy Again agenda promoted by President Donald Trump and Kennedy, whose department includes the CDC.
