More than 750 current and former staff members of U.S. Health and Human Services begged Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday to “stop the spread of inaccurate health information” after firing hundreds of rounds at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month.
The letter, also addressed to members of Congress, said, “The violent attacks on August 8th on CDC headquarters in Atlanta were not random.” The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that the shooter expressed his dissatisfaction with the Covid-19 vaccine and wanted to let him know his distrust.
“The attack, driven by politicized rhetoric that transformed public health experts from trustworthy experts into villain targets amid growing distrust in public institutions, wrote that it now highlighted the signing of violence “in our own personal capabilities.” Some signed anonymously “due to fears of retaliation and personal safety.”
The August 8 shooting killed DeCalb County Police Officer David Rose by pockmarking multiple buildings by drilling bullet holes at the country’s public health agency.
Staff wrote that Kennedy, who led an anti-vaccine advocacy group before President Donald Trump appointed him as health secretary, is “conspired to risk the country’s health by dismantling America’s public health infrastructure and repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information.”
They called previous comments from Kennedy the end of HHS for thousands of employees in the “corruption cesspool” and “ask ask-ask-askions-later attitude” that they call the CDC, leaving gaps in the sectors that include detection of infectious diseases, worker safety and chronic disease prevention. They also said “many CDC workers have been fired, focusing on issues such as injuries and violence prevention,” hampering the agency’s ability to respond to emergencies.
They also focused on Kennedy’s claims about vaccines, including mRNA shots and measles vaccines, saying it would “dampen the public health outbreak response,” and lay off the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an influential panel of external vaccine advisors to the CDC, and previous comments that mistakenly linked the vaccine to autism.
HHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “We are actively supporting CDC staff on the ground and across our agency. Public health workers are showing purpose every day, even in moments of sadness and uncertainty.” Kennedy said in a social media post on August 9th.
Kennedy visited CDC headquarters two days later. However, his response was criticized by public health leaders such as former US surgeon general Dr. Jerome Adams, and was called “late and slimy.”
In their letter, HHS employees asked Kennedy to “stop and publicly deny the continued spread of false and misleading claims about vaccines, infection transmission and the American public health agency.” Confirm the scientific integrity of the CDC. Guaranteed the safety of the HHS workforce.
“If the people who are believed to be protecting Americans are not safe, then Americans are not safe,” Dr. Anne Schchat, former deputy director of the CDC, said in a statement. “The attack on US government agencies should be the moment when we gather together. Instead, Secretary Kennedy continues to spread misinformation at risk of American life.”
NIH staff who signed the letter also said they called on Dr. Jay Bhatacharya to “absorb the dangerous politicization of mRNA vaccine technology.”
NIH did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The administration said earlier this month that it was dismantling funds for the development of mRNA vaccines because the vaccine “cannot effectively protect against upper respiratory tract infections such as Covid and the flu.”
Researchers estimate that the Covid-19 vaccine has saved more than 2.5 million lives.
