CDC upheaval triggers global concern amid ongoing US vaccine policy debate
In other developments, another Senate committee tomorrow will air more vaccine debate at a hearing.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday called for efforts to protect public health excellence at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which follows massive staff layoffs, the firing of its newly confirmed director, recent resignations of top scientists, an armed attack, and the gutting of its vaccine advisory group under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump weighed in on recent vaccine discussions and strongly supported some vaccine, as another Senate committee is poised to continue vaccine discussions tomorrow at a hearing.
Tedros: Global groups have modeled themselves after US CDC
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus, PhD, on X yesterday said the CDC has long been a center of excellence and that many countries have emulated it to establish similar institutions.
He said when he was Ethiopia’s health minister, he sent a team to Atlanta to learn from the CDC, adding that Ethiopia’s public health system has incorporated what it learned in the United States. He also said the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which he proposed in 2013 when he was a foreign minister, was also inspired by the US CDC.
“Through global cooperation, many countries have not only learned from the US CDC, but they have also chosen the name ‘CDC’ for their national institutes,” Tedros said.
He said the WHO has had a close and longstanding partnership with the US CDC, which has helped Americans and the world benefit from the best American science while providing the United States with access to global health data, alerts, experience, and expertise from other countries.
Tedros acknowledged that no institution is perfect, and continued improvements are always needed. “But the work of the US CDC has been invaluable and must be protected!”
The Trump Administration has had a contentious relationship with the WHO, which began during the end of the president’s first term. In the first days of his second term, Trump issued an executive order for the US to withdraw from the WHO, citing what it saw as COVID-19 missteps and lack of reforms.
Trump touts vaccines ahead of Senate committee hearing
Last week, two news events kept childhood and other vaccines in the spotlight: Florida’s decision—the first in the nation—to end vaccine mandates for public school children, and Kennedy’s appearance at a long, contentious Senate Finance Committee hearing, where he faced bipartisan criticism for his actions against childhood vaccines and access to COVID vaccine for other groups.
In comments on September 5 at an Oval Office briefing, President Trump seemed to have reservations about Florida’s recent stance, calling it a “very tough position” and urging caution, especially regarding polio and COVID-19 vaccines, The Hill reported.
He added that some vaccines aren’t controversial, are known to work, and should be used.
Tomorrow the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a vaccine-related hearing on how the corruption of science has affected public perceptions and policies regarding vaccines. Those on the testimony list include Aaron Siri, JD, a Kennedy lawyer who specialized in vaccine lawsuits, Toby Rogers, PhD, with the Brownstone Institute, a nonprofit group that has opposed COVID measures, and Jake Scott, MD, an infectious disease physician and clinical associate professor at Stanford University.
