4/ Why does this matter?

When CDC recommendations narrow, health insurance, especially government health insurance, may narrow too.

And it creates confusion in pharmacies & clinics.

3/ This season, the FDA narrowed COVID vaccine approvals:
🔹People 65+
🔹People 6m to 64y if they have at least one risk factor for severe COVID (including pregnancy)

Off-label use:
🔹Healthy people 6m to 64y in consultation with your doctor

2/ Normally, FDA reviews products, then CDC’s vaccine advisers (ACIP) publicly weigh evidence & vote.

CDC adopts guidance, which insurers & programs like Medicaid, the Children's Vaccine Program (CHIP), & Vaccines for Children follow.

That process has been corrupted.

1/ Why the confusion over COVID vaccines now?

What’s changed isn’t the science. It’s the process.

Policy is increasingly announced by officials online & outside the usual evidence review, creating mixed messages for families.

on @cbsnews.com

3/ Within hours of the firing of CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez’s, 3 leaders—responsible for vaccine safety, respiratory diseases, & the chief medical officer role—resigned.

Earlier that week, CDC’s head of data systems also stepped down.

More departures are expected.

2/ These aren’t just headlines about “palace intrigue.”

What’s unraveling is the basic machinery that keeps Americans safe: vaccines, outbreak detection, lab guidance, and expert support for state health departments.

1/ It’s been a chaotic week at the CDC.

The director was fired less than a month into her tenure, four senior leaders resigned in protest, & the agency is still reeling from a shooting at its Atlanta HQ.

on @cbsnews.com

4/ HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. later confirmed Jim O’Neill as acting CDC director.

In a message to staff, he pledged to “restore trust, transparency, & credibility," but did not mention Monarez’s removal.

3/ Resigned last week:
🔹Dr. Dan Jernigan, Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
🔹Dr. Jen Layden, Office of Public Health Data, Science, Technology

2/ Resigned last week:
🔹Dr. Debra Houry, CDC’s Chief Science & Medical Officer
🔹Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Director of the National Center for Immunization & Respiratory Diseases
➡️

1/ 4⃣senior CDC officials resigned last week, citing political interference in the agency’s scientific work, especially around vaccines.

Meanwhile, CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired last week, less than a month into her tenure.

4/ The administration was also unhappy with how Monarez was addressing the CDC shooting.

She was blocked from publishing an op-ed about it.

Notably, President Trump has yet to publicly acknowledge the tragedy.

3/ I’ve spoken with dozens of CDC employees.

They say tensions were building between Monarez & HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., particularly over COVID vaccines & the CDC’s vaccine advisory group (ACIP).

2/ On Monday, Monarez was scheduled to hold a CDC-wide meeting in Atlanta to address staff after the shooting at agency headquarters.

She canceled last minute after being summoned to DC.

1/ Massive CDC meltdown:

Just weeks after taking the job, Susan Monarez was fired as CDC Director by the White House.

Her legal team is contesting her ouster.

And 3 CDC leaders resigned yesterday.

on @cbsmornings.bsky.social