RFK Jr.’s vision for the CDC should alarm Congress

Susan Monarez’s 28-day tenure as the nation’s top public-health official was doomed from the start. Her boss, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wanted her to do two things: champion his dubious anti-vaccine agenda and uphold “gold-standard science” at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Recognizing the conflict, Monarez chose the latter and was fired last month. Monarez’s departure from the CDC highlights a dilemma that any successor will face: Under Kennedy, no serious scientist can hold the job. The risk this vacuum of expertise could pose to Americans’ health and safety is significant. Kennedy has been a vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist for decades. Public frustration with pandemic-era mask and vaccine mandates helped catapult him to popularity and may have led to his appointment as health secretary. Although the White House gave Kennedy permission to “go wild” on health, lawmakers were given assurances that he wouldn’t do much to change vaccine policy. So much for that. Since assuming his post, Kennedy has taken steps to restrict availability of the CWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times