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Former CDC Director Susan Monarez Pleads Warning About Looming Changes to Childhood Vaccine Schedule
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Key Takeaways
- Susan Monarez was dismissed after refusing to fire officials and approve vaccine recommendations without data, as demanded by Robert F. Kennedy.
- The Senate hearing highlighted concerns about reduced childhood vaccinations leading to preventable disease deaths.
Former CDC director Susan Monarez raises alarms about potential changes to childhood vaccine schedules, warning of increased health risks for children.
The former director touched on her firing along with vocalizing her concerns at alterations to vaccine scheduling set to take place.
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During the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing, former CDC director Susan Monarez touched on the reasons she says she was initially fired, along with voicing her opinions on recent decisions on the vaccine schedule. According to a report from CNBC, Monarez claims to have refused two demands from Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy, with the first being to fire career agency officials and then sign off vaccine recommendations without seeing corresponding data.
“He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign,” Monarez said. “I responded that I could not pre-approve recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis to fire scientific experts.”
What else was said during the hearing?
Senators continued to question Monarez for about three hours regarding the former directors’ interactions with Kennedy, but the main topic of the hearing centered around the rising concern of reduced vaccines for children. The conversation showed belief from senate members and Monarez that reductions in vaccines could lead to increased deaths from preventable diseases, including any vaccine recommendations being made without scientific research support.
“The concern is Robert F Kennedy Jr. is going to make America sicker again,” said Senator Ed Markey. “They’re going to send us towards more disease, more death and more despair in our nation.”1
Additionally, Senator Bill Cassidy, committee chair, asked Monarez if Kennedy informed her of his plans to change the childhood vaccine schedule, in which she responded, “He said that the childhood vaccine schedule would be changing starting in September, and I needed to be on board with it.”
Monarez continued to add that she and Kennedy “got into an exchange” regarding the change to the childhood vaccine schedule, with Monarez saying she was willing to agree to the changes, but only if it was backed by scientific data or evidence.
Additional changes may be on the way
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is expected to meet on Thursday, September 18, and Friday, September 19, to review and vote on measles, covid, and hepatitis B vaccine shots. The group will decide on altering the recommendations for the timing of when children will be administered the vaccine shots for these diseases. Dr. Debra Houry, former CDC chief medical officer, testified alongside Monarez in the hearing, and according to a report from CNBC, expects the committee will recommend delaying the hepatitis B shot in children until the age of four.1
Houry went on to say, “I'm concerned about the future of CDC and public health in our country. If we continue down this path, we are not prepared, not just for pandemics, but for preventing chronic health disease, and we're going to see kids dying of vaccine preventable diseases.”
To end the hearing, Senator Cassidy, a gastroenterologist who specialized in liver disease, spoke up in favor of administering hepatitis B shots in infants, saying, “Before 1991, as many as 20,000 babies were infected with hepatitis B in the United States of America, and that changed when the hepatitis B vaccine was approved for newborns,” Cassidy said. “Now, fewer than 20 babies per year get hepatitis B from their mother. That is an accomplishment to make America healthy again, and we should stand up and salute the people that made that decision, because there’s people who would otherwise be dead if those mothers were not given that option to have their child vaccinated.”
Sources
- Former CDC director warns about changes to childhood vaccine schedule at hearing CNBC News September 17, 2025 https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/senate-hearing-cdc-susan-monarez-warn-limit-childhood-vaccines-rcna231876
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