Former CDC director warns about changes to childhood vaccine schedule at hearing

WASHINGTON — The future of access to critical childhood vaccines, including the hepatitis B shot, became a flashpoint in a Senate health committee hearing Wednesday, just a day before an influential vaccine panel is set to meet.

WASHINGTON — The future of access to critical childhood vaccines, including the hepatitis B shot, became a flashpoint in a Senate health committee hearing Wednesday, just a day before an influential vaccine panel is set to meet.

At the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing, Susan Monarez, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the final meeting with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that led to her being fired in August was tense.

Monarez said she refused two demands by Kennedy: fire career agency officials and sign off vaccine recommendations without seeing any data.

Former CDC Director Susan Monarez testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in Washington on Wednesday.Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images“He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign,” she said. “I responded that I could not pre-approve recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis to fire scientific experts.”

Senators questioned Monarez for roughly three hours about her interactions with Kennedy, who said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Sept. 4 that Monarez was ousted because she wasn't trustworthy.