Xinhua Agency, Los Angeles, August 28 reviewed| The dismissal of director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sparked controversy and doubts

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Susan Monarez, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for less than a month, was dismissed by the White House on Monday. U.S. media that Monarez was the shortest-term director of the Centers for Disease Control and the first director to be dismissed during his tenure.

Monarez, 50, officially took office on July 31. According to the new regulations in 2023, the appointment of the director of the CDC must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate process, so she became the first director approved by the Senate in the history of the agency, which also reflects that this position is subject to stricter legal regulations in the appointment process.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the superior department of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued a document on social media platform X on the 27th that Monares no longer serves as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monares's legal team later issued a statement in response saying that she had neither resigned nor been dismissed. The statement said: "Monares chose to protect the public rather than pander to the political agenda, refusing to blindly follow the government's unscientifically based and thoughtless instructions and refusing to fire dedicated health experts. For this, she was targeted."

The White House has since formally confirmed the dismissal, with Kush Desai, White House spokesperson, saying Mr. Monarez was at odds with President Donald Trump's agenda of "making America healthy again".

ABC quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the dismissal turmoil stemmed from the fact that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. and his aides asked Monarez to support the adjustment of vaccine policy and fire senior CDC staff, but they were rejected.

The dismissal quickly triggered a chain reaction within the CDC. According to US media reports, several senior CDC officials submitted their resignations on the evening of 27th, including debra horry, chief medical officer and deputy director of programs and science, daniel jernigan, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, dimitri zaskarakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and respiratory diseases, and jennifer leiden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology. In their resignation letters, they expressed concern about "the politicization of public health", the proliferation of false information about vaccines, the attack on science and the budget cut of CDC.

At the time of public opinion fermentation, Kennedy said in a media interview on 28 that he should not comment on personnel issues, but he was "not surprised" by what happened. he said that the disease control center is indeed "in trouble" and needs to address these issues, "some people may not have to work there anymore."

This incident also triggered a reaction from the U.S. Congress. Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, called on the 28th to postpone the meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Independent Vaccine Advisory Committee scheduled to be held in mid-September, citing concerns about the meeting's agenda, membership and lack of scientific procedures and other issues."Serious allegations" were raised. Senator Bernie Sanders called for a bipartisan investigation into Monares 'firing and criticized the White House's decision as "reckless and dangerous."

According to the Washington Post, the White House has appointed Jim O'Neill, Kennedy's deputy and deputy secretary of health and human services, as acting director of the CDC.

Analysts pointed out that Monarez publicly emphasized the scientific value of vaccines at the beginning of his appointment, but now he is forced to step down, highlighting the intensified differences in vaccine policy in the United States, and also reflecting the deep contradiction between American public health institutions and political power. Not long ago, there was a shooting incident caused by anti-vaccine sentiment at the headquarters of the CDC in the United States, which made the outside world increasingly worried about the future stability of the agency.

Public health experts say the wave will have a long-term impact on the U.S. public health system, and the outcome will not only affect the operations and authority of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, but also the public¡¯s trust in science and government.