In a letter to Kennedy, some 750 federal health workers charged him with undermining public confidence in the CDC by calling the agency a "cesspool of corruption" during his failed 2024 presidential campaign. They claimed that such comments hurt morale and credibility, and that his choice to eliminate thousands of positions at HHS left gaps in disease detection, worker safety, chronic illness prevention and vaccine development.
"The willful erosion of trust in America's public health workforce has life-or-death consequences," the letter said, noting that Kennedy's false portrayals of the vaccine for measles had undercut response efforts to outbreaks of the disease.
Concerns Over Public Safety
The signatories connected Kennedy's rhetoric to increased belligerence against public health institutions, including the recent armed attack on the CDC, as evidence of its real-world effects. The shooter had previously expressed scepticism about COVID-19 vaccines before the attack on August 8.
Kennedy, however, has said that he supports CDC staff and that he is committed to their safety and welfare. Yet his actions tell another story, critics say, citing his rescinding the hundreds of millions of dollars for mRNA vaccine research. The technology has been widely attributed with saving millions of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has shown potential in treating cancer and HIV.
Warnings From Public Health Leaders
Kennedy has long been under fire for his remarks about vaccines, including during a 2019 visit to Samoa, where he had visited shortly before a devastating measles outbreak that claimed 81 lives, mostly children. His selection as health secretary caught many world leaders, including Samoa's prime minister, Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa, off guard.
William Foege, who led the C.D.C. from 1977 to 1983 and helped eradicate smallpox, cautioned that Kennedy's rhetoric could be dangerous. In a recent op-ed, he penned: "Kennedy's pronouncements can be as deadly as the smallpox virus. Americans deserve better."
