The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reeling after another top official departed this month.
Ralph Abraham, who served as the agency’s principal deputy director, has stepped down from his position effective immediately, the CDC announced in a statement on Monday.
“Dr. Abraham led with clarity and discipline, advancing the CDC’s mission to protect the health and safety of the American people,” the statement read, citing “unforeseen family obligations” as the reason for his departure.
The resignation comes as the agency, under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has initiated sweeping, unprecedented changes and experienced significant turnover.
In August, Kennedy pressured CDC Director Susan Monarez to resign or face termination after she refused to fire senior staff and comply with his demands to alter vaccine policies, triggering a cascade of further resignations.
Monarez was replaced by Jim O’Neill, who resigned this month, 10 days before Abraham.
Since Monarez’s departure, the CDC has not had a director who is presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed.
According to Healio, O’Neill was let go from his leadership position due to federal limits on how long someone can temporarily fill a vacant executive branch position, which is capped at 210 days. He was approaching this limit in March.
Just one year into his tenure, Kennedy, an outspoken anti-vaxxer, has rewritten long-standing vaccine guidance, altered the immunization schedule, and replaced 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with vaccine skeptics.
Abraham, who served as the CDC’s second-in-command, only began the job on Jan. 5. He was previously Louisiana’s surgeon general, where he spearheaded efforts to halt the promotion of mass vaccination and was a vocal critic of COVID-19 vaccines.
“It has been an honor to serve alongside the dedicated public health professionals at the CDC and to support the agency’s critical mission,” Abraham said about his departure.
So far, no replacement has been named for Abraham.
The surgeon’s resignation comes days after a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told Reuters that a U.S. vaccine advisory committee meeting scheduled for late February would not be held.
The Daily Beast has contacted the CDC for comment.
