Disease Control and Prevention.

The premier public health agency in the United States, arguably the world.

>> Is experiencing chaos.

Unlike anything ever seen before following mass layoffs.

There's also turmoil at the top after CDC director Susan Norris was forced out last week triggering resignations from other senior staff.

Meanwhile, there's also growing concern in the medical community over changing vaccine guidelines and the cancellation of vaccine research.

Here's what Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Junior had to say about the agency last week.

>> The CDC is an agency that is very troubled.

A very long time.

Anybody gets to the COVID pandemic.

all of these bizarre recommendations overnight.

Science is all the misinformation.

Understands that there's a lot of trouble if CDC and it's going require getting rid of some people over the long term.

In order for us to change the institutional culture.

>> Joining us, our Dr Maxima, Brito professor of medicine and infectious diseases specialist at the University of Illinois, Chicago doctor Anita, Chandra president elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a clinical instructor and pediatric specialist at Northwestern Medicine.

And Doctor Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health and Interim chief of Infectious Diseases at Northwestern Medicine.

Power panel, thanks to the 3 of you for joining us.

Dr. Murphy, first over to you.

What do you make of what we just heard is the CDC, an agency that needed to be reformed?

No.

>> The CDC has been doing a great job.

Of course, anything can be made more efficient.

But what you just heard is really the words from a complete quack.

This person is not making any sense.

The people around him are making no sense and the good people are all leaving.

It's it's really a tragedy for public health in America.

>> Dr Chandra, the American Academy of Pediatrics.

You all have expressed concern over some of the changes that Secretary Kennedy Junior has implemented.

What are your main concerns?

We want to make sure that all children have access to life-saving.

Preventable vaccines.

We want to make sure that there's health equity for all children and the vaccines that we know that have been researched for years and years, science backed vaccine structure.

>> Is still in place.

>> What are what are some the consequences for children of what we're seeing happening, what we're seeing coming out of the CDC with the changes in the vaccine schedule and recommendations.

So already we know that there have been changes and recommendations and the COVID vaccine front and the Academy of Pediatrics believes strongly in the value of these vaccines that are preventing serious illness.

We know that young children can really suffer from.

>> Illness from these viral viral causes in a very terrible way.

Similar to how we think about the elderly.

And so we want to make sure that young children have access to the vaccines to the AP like other professional organizations has published a vaccine schedule that they're recommending.

All pediatricians follow its science-backed.

It is very similar to what it's been in the past it really gives us some clear guidance so that we can combat a lot of the misinformation that's out there, which is a departure from the norm for AAP because typically you all can be aligned with the CDC.

Well, and I will say that about 30 years ago, the AP is to publish their own vaccine schedule and then it became one that was aligned with the ACI, Pierre C, D C. >> So it's always been something that the Academy of Pediatrics has done is to publish an immunization schedule.

It's just that for many years, everybody was in good alignment.

And now unfortunately we're having to make those split decisions.

And so we follow with the Academy of Pediatrics.

Does say Dr Brito many health professionals.

They're expressing concerns, of course, about RFK juniors appointment.

What are your impressions of and how he's leading public health policy in the changes that we've seen so far with vaccine guidance.

Yeah.

I think the changes in vaccine are not optimal.

I mean, we're not we're not.

We're doing exactly with the opposite what we're supposed to be doing.

I think we should.

>> Especially since we have the departure of people who are very talented people who are career professionals, that where being great Stewart's a vaccine policy.

And I think these departures can as being said, Henry Salt increase in the number of preventable diseases and cause a breaks.

So I think this poses misguided.

What are your thoughts on some of the people that he surrounded himself with?

Right?

Because they've.

>> The C D or the CDC, the HHS, they've released their own sort scientific document and it's got a lot of names on it.

And a lot of people who have degrees similar to all of yours.

>> I think the people that wear at CDC and the people who have resigned from CDC are the ones that really have the knowledge have the experience and have you know, have been there through many administrations and the ones that are most capable be stewards of vaccine public parks in the country.

18.

Some of the people then we've seen placing those positions are really not qualified.

And that is concerning.

>> The impact on these vaccine changes and the changes in guidance.

What impact might that have on whether or not insurance covers it for people who would still like to get the vaccines as we previously huge, I think do vaccine the Medicaid.

>> You know, they follow the a cip.

And so vaccine recommendation change their change.

12 states have reported that and CBS or some of the promises have reported in some states have they're not covering the vaccines for season.

So he has implications.

So that's why it's important that that we tried to follow best practices, try to get back to what we were doing.

>> So one decision that a Secretary Kennedy has made is to announce that the government would no longer fund research in.

22 mrna vaccine projects of totaling 500 million dollars.

Half a billion.

He said, quote, We review the science.

Listen to the experts and acted bar to which is the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority is terminating.

22 mrna vaccine development investments because the data showed these vaccines failed to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections, like COVID and flu.

Dr. Murphy that mrna technology we all remember is the technology that gave us the COVID vaccine in under a year.

What do you make of this move by HHS?

This one of the most dangerous.

>> Policies that sir ever come out of any kind of health authority, the mrna vaccines, the technology was developed over 20 years ago.

It was used in the COVID pandemic vaccine was developed in on the market within 10 months.

It couldn't happen with the older technology.

It's saved literally in the United States.

Hundreds of thousands of lives to throw this away because of some hoax theories.

Some wacko theory is really going to result in death.

People are going to die because of these policies.

Very similar to what Mr. Kennedy proposed to be some moments when they had their measles outbreak and he said, oh, you don't take vitamin A and do all this other stuff that doesn't work.

And what happened.

83 people, mostly children, died from that and they had to stop that whole anti-vaccine program.

That's what's going to happen here.

And, you know, we're going to have young children, people at risk a sort of ages die from preventable diseases.

Are you calling for his resignation for Secretary Kennedy's resignation?

Do you think he should remain on the job?

>> Heat, >> not only should you not.

Remained in this job, which is totally on qualified before, but he should never have been approved by the Senate.

Senator Cassidy should know better.

A doctor who was promoted appropriate medical therapies and prevention efforts and the world voted him in and made by one vote that one vote has put a dangerous man in this place and we're going pay the consequences.

>> How are how would you advise patients people to proceed in this environment?

Well, that that is really the question of the day.

Number one is you can no longer believe anything coming out of DHHS, which includes the CDC and the NIH and everything else because all their messaging now is controlled.

>> By the secretary, you're going to have to look at a P the infectious Disease Society of America and other professional organizations and some of the states have their own can have their own guidelines as well.

Anybody can have a guy that the problem is we'll insurance com companies cover what the professionals associations are recommending.

We were away from.

But the CDC is that's why everyone's quitting at the CDC.

All people have left.

You can't trust them.

The people that have left the people that people are so they can see that remains are saying about health equity in the pediatric population.

There's patients who have private insurance and those patients who get their vaccines to the vaccines for children program.

>> And there are several states for the vfc program is tied directly to cip.

Your CDC recommendation that is going to have to be changed.

So that all children can have access to the same vaccines across the board.

you know, this is going to be a really big fight over the next several months to make sure that children are vaccinated properly.

That all patients are vaccinated properly.

And you see what happened in places where immunization rates fall.

We all know about what happened in Texas.

We had measles get measles spread throughout the country because of what was happening with lower vaccine rates.

So our job is to really keep vaccinating people to protect them against vaccine.

Preventable illnesses.

Not listen to non science-based recommendations.

That's where we'll have to leave it.

A best of luck to the 3 of you and