Who knew that habitually eating roadkill, horse, and dog could give you the power to see the organelles of children? Well, I guess now I know that RFK Jr thinks you can detect a child’s malfunctioning mitochondria based on how they look in America’s most flattering environment: the airport!
There’s been so much news relating to the CDC this week, I don’t think I can capture it all. Here’s what I’ve got.
The CDC is not OK
If the shooting at the CDC’s main campus in Atlanta earlier this month wasn’t enough, now there is chaos at the leadership level after the CDC director was abruptly fired on Wednesday. The director, Dr. Susan Monarez, has been at this post for less than a month. She was confirmed by Congress this summer, after she was nominated for the position by Trump in the spring. So why on Earth is she being suddenly “fired”?
Well, her lawyers say she refused “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.” While she will be fighting the firing, an acting CDC director has been installed (RFK Jr’s deputy at the HHS, Jim O’Neill1). At the announcement of her dismissal, four other senior CDC officials resigned (so far). Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, now former Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, published his resignation letter on social media. This section specifically is resonating with lots of users online, including myself:
The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud. I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur. I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed.
For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics. I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision.
I truly hope the people still at the CDC work hard to fight against the institution becoming an arm of the authoritarian Trump admin. It won’t be easy, as budget cuts and corporate style “reorgs” eliminate jobs, research teams, and projects that protect Americans. The drowning prevention team is one of those eliminations. A small team of three scientists with a $2 million annual budget are facing elimination, even though they were close to sharing what they’ve found that helps prevent drownings. Gun violence and injury research and prevention have also been hit hard. I personally see these cuts as attacks on the health and welfare of children and teens, as they face high rates of injury and mortality due to gun violence and drowning.
This year’s COVID shot takes center stage in the chaos
The FDA has approved this year’s new COVID vaccines, but they’ve also added new restrictions. Healthy children now face a barrier to vaccination. Previously, all children were recommended the COVID shot—now, the FDA is no longer recommending healthy children get the vaccine, unless their parent seeks approval from their pediatrician.
This is a little confusing, especially if you really care about childhood vaccination. We have to be mindful that the more barriers there are to accessing healthcare, the fewer people will get the care they need. This goes double for people that don’t control their health, like children. While concerned parents will not hesitate to talk to their pediatricians about getting approval for their kids to get the vaccine, parents that are actively anti-vaxx, or otherwise disengaged from the healthcare system, will intentionally or unintentionally opt out. With that in mind, this change from the CDC will likely lower pediatric vaccination rates for this COVID-19 season. From where I’m standing, I also don’t see anything stopping doctors from simply saying “nah” when asked to give healthy children the COVID vaccine.
Adults are in a similar boat to kids, when it comes to this year’s COVID shots. To get this new vaccine formulation as an adult, you must:
be 65 or older
have a preexisting health condition that would make a COVID-19 infection worse
The list of conditions has a broad scope, including mental health and low exercise level among more obvious conditions like smoking and asthma. These restrictions open up the possibility for insurance companies to deny coverage for these shots. I recommend talking to your doctor about your eligibility, if you have a doctor. If you don’t, I would check your local pharmacy for information. Depending on the state you’re in, you may not be able to get vaccinated soon, regardless.
The chaos at the top level of the CDC has complicated the rollout of these vaccines, restrictions aside. Normally, the FDA approves a seasonal vaccine and then the CDC essentially cosigns the approval. Then the pharmaceutical companies begin to ship the vaccines to doctors offices and pharmacies. It’s possible that the CDC chaos this week is caused in part by Dr. Monarez refusing cosign these new restrictions. Unfortunately, several states require the CDC sign-off before vaccines can be distributed to pharmacies, meaning that without the CDC approval, pharmacies in those states don’t get any vaccines. I found this to be the case with my local CVS. I live in a state with a restriction, so I can’t get a CVS appointment in my state (but I could get one in a neighboring state without restrictions).
The COVID vaccination rate in the United States is abysmal2. All of this drama and red tape creates further barriers to vaccination. If you don’t have a plan to get vaccinated, I implore you start making one for you and your family. As our public health institutions are attacked and weakened, we have to continue to do what we can to keep each other safe. These vaccines are a great way to prevent and reduce illness.
Organizations are not taking the attacks on the CDC lying down, thankfully
Several organizations, Congresspeople, and citizens are taking a stand against RFK Jr. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) have released a statement strongly recommending you get the COVID vaccine if you’re pregnant. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued it’s own guidance around vaccines to counter the CDC’s 2025 recommendations, stating all children should get the COVID vaccine.
A ridiculous part of this whole news saga this week includes how I can’t find an FDA official press release online surrounding the COVID vaccine changes. News outlets are reporting that this information has broken via posts to X. I shan’t be linking to that platform, but apparently the government is going to be run off that horrendous website. None of the news outlets I’ve looked to for a possible link to an FDA press release (after trawling the FDA website to no avail) mention how fucking odd it is to have government decrees given via tweets. Dr. Daskalakis did mention it in his resignation letter, however:
It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC. The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense. Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function. Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC.
Well said, Dr. Daskalakis. With that aside, you need to know that people all over the healthcare system are working hard to do the right thing by patients and the American public. Even small steps help stem the tide of anti-health disinformation, fear mongering, and limiting access to quality healthcare and guidance based in sound medical science. Nobody should act like this is a done deal and over. Rather, we should all work to take any action we can to help keep the healthcare system ready to save lives.
If you need an example, look no further than Senator Murray of Washington. She has released a concise statement calling for the firing of RFK Jr this week, after the aforementioned turmoil in the CDC blew up on Wednesday. Representative Rosa DeLauro released a similar call to fire RFK Jr. I believe the Democratic party needs to fully back this level of direct calls for the removal of RFK Jr—he will kill people with his brazen disregard for science, medicine, and truth. If your representatives are calling for RKF Jr’s removal, give them a call and let them know you support this statement. Otherwise, I encourage you to call your Senators and tell them you want them to follow suit.
Senator Bill Cassidy is also calling for action. You know, the guy who was the deciding confirmation vote for RKF Jr earlier this year (you can read his statement from February here, it was stupid to read then and only gets worse with time). Cassidy is seeking an indefinite delay to the CDC meeting planned for September, stating:
Serious allegations have been made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed for the now announced September ACIP meeting. 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.
I’m not holding my breath on that going anywhere, considering the Senator’s direct role in getting us to this point. But there’s clearly political will to stop the madness. Many citizens are also joining in to raise their voice. CDC employees held a walk out to show support for Dr. Monarez and her colleagues who resigned. There have been several rallies of the public outside the CDC headquarters this year to show support and disapproval for funding cuts. If you’re local to Atlanta, you could join a rally and show the people still at the CDC that you care!
Some short-form news for you
With all that’s happened with the CDC recently, it’s too much for me to get together all in one place. This is a good time to highlight a source of info that I like—Dr. Rubin, or @rubin_allergy on YouTube. Short-form video is largely considered slop ruining the minds of everyone sucked into their algorithms. While I have accidentally lost way too many hours to scrolling, my feed at least delivers news and information. Yours can too, if you like and follow people that post quality content.
Dr. Rubin is a double board certified physician in allergy and immunology and makes short-form video content answering health questions related to his areas of expertise. He also gives high level summaries of news related to public health, which I really enjoy. When he comes across my feed, I know he’s got bad news when he starts with a serious “holy cow, folks.” I appreciate that he includes his sources, he clarifies often that he can’t diagnose random people online, and that he puts the date on anything related to the news. Here are some of his videos from this week covering other CDC news I can’t get to for this newsletter.
CDC funding cuts reduce food safety monitoring programs:
RFK Jr falsely states that SSRIs have black box warnings for “homicidal ideation”:
Your doctors are people, too:
Dr. Rubin also posts videos of him hula hooping. This makes me laugh every time, without fail. I think one of the positives about healthcare providers posting online is that people can see them as more than a healthcare provider. As healthcare gets further politicized and lifesaving care is demonized, humanizing healthcare providers may help people trust their providers despite the toxic political environment.
See y’all next week,
PB
1 I don’t know much about this guy, but at first glance, he seems to be a complete crank
2 For the 2024-2025 season, adults had a COVID vaccination rate of 23% and children had a rate of 13%