A second senior CDC official has resigned in two weeks, citing fears that scientific integrity is being undermined under vaccine skeptic Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Dr. Fiona Havers, a physician who oversaw respiratory virus data—including hospitalization rates for COVID-19 and RSV—emailed colleagues on Monday expressing her concern that her work is no longer being used to shape public health policy responsibly, the Washington Post reported.
“Unfortunately, I no longer have confidence that these data will be used objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions,” she warned in the farewell message.
The 13-year veteran’s decision comes after RFK Jr. deposed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), replacing them with agreeable cronies that hold similar views on vaccinations.
Havers would present hospitalization data at the committee’s meetings. She said she and her team’s data was essential to informing COVID-19 and RSV vaccine policy.
In JAMA, the peer-reviewed medical journal, the ousted board members fired off against Kennedy’s cull. They wrote that the dismissals and the resulting replacement with MAHA minions, as well as the reduction of dedicated CDC immunization staff, has “left the U.S. vaccine program critically weakened.”
“We are deeply concerned that these destabilizing decisions, made without clear rationale, may roll back the achievements of U.S. immunization policy, impact people’s access to lifesaving vaccines, and ultimately put U.S. families at risk of dangerous and preventable illnesses,” they added.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon assured the public in a statement shared with the Post that “vaccine policy decisions will be based on objective data.”
“Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, HHS is committed to following the gold standard of scientific integrity,” he said.
“Vaccine policy decisions will be based on objective data, transparent analysis, and evidence—not conflicts of interest or industry influence.”
The Daily Beast has approached HHS for an updated statement.
The news comes just a fortnight after pediatric infectious disease expert Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos left the agency.
She resigned after Kennedy declared a week prior that the CDC would no longer recommend Covid vaccines to healthy children and healthy pregnant women. This move reportedly blindsided officials, who learned of the directive from social media.
Panagiotakopoulos, who—like Havers—was an ACIP leader, did not provide a specific reason for her departure. However, she reportedly told colleagues in an email: “My career in public health and vaccinology started with a deep-seated desire to help the most vulnerable members of our population, and that is not something I am able to continue doing in this role.”
