Pallade Veneta - White House fires US health agency head after she refused to quit

The escalating dispute over Kennedy's sweeping overhaul of US vaccine policy also led to five other senior officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcing their resignations, according to a union representing some of the agency's workers.

Susan Monarez, a health scientist and longtime civil servant, had been the CDC's head for less than a month when Kennedy's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on X that she "is no longer director."

But Monarez "neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired," her lawyers said in a statement sent to AFP.

"As a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign," the lawyers said, accusing Kennedy of "weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of American lives at risk."

Monarez was targeted after she "refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts," it added.

However, the White House later confirmed that Monarez had been fired.

"As her attorney's statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President's agenda of Making America Healthy Again," White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an emailed statement to AFP.

"Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC," he added.

The Washington Post, which first reported Monarez's dismissal, said Kennedy pressured her to resign after she refused to commit to supporting his vaccination policy changes.

- 'Enough is enough' -

In the aftermath, five high-ranking CDC officials emailed in their resignations, according to a union representing more than 2,000 CDC workers.

"We were shocked to hear of the sudden resignation of multiple experienced public health leaders at CDC," the AFGE Local 2883 union said in a statement.

"Many felt forced to walk away from the jobs they loved because politics left them no choice," the union said, adding: "Vaccines save lives."

"Enough is enough," said Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned as director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

"I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public's health," he wrote on X.

The CDC's chief medical officer Debra Houry and Daniel Jernigan, director of the agency's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, were also among those who resigned, according to US media citing notes sent to staff.

- 'Public health under attack' -

Since taking office, RFK Jr, as he is known, has overhauled US vaccine policy, dismissing renowned immunization experts, restricting access to Covid-19 shots and slashing funding for the development of new vaccines.

Such measures are predominantly against scientific consensus, and have been criticized by outside experts.

After earning US Senate confirmation for the top CDC job, Monarez was sworn in by Kennedy on July 31.

The White House in March had to abandon President Donald Trump's first nominee as CDC head, David Weldon, a doctor known for his anti-vaccine stance, for fear he would not receive sufficient Senate support for confirmation.

The departure of Monarez comes amid a crisis at the Atlanta-based CDC, which was the target of an armed attack in early August by a man who reportedly blamed the Covid vaccine on an unspecified illness.

Hundreds of health agency employees and former employees subsequently signed an open letter condemning Kennedy's actions and accusing the health secretary of putting people at risk by spreading misinformation, particularly about vaccines.

"Public health itself is under attack," Wednesday's union statement said, adding that "we see it in the bullet holes in our buildings."

M.Jacobucci--PV