1/ After the shooting at CDC earlier this month, employees sent a blunt letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
They said that instead of standing with them, RFK Jr. is spreading conspiracy theories about the CDC & their work.
on @CBSEveningNews with @jdickerson
2/ They called this dangerous & made 3 requests:
🔹Stop spreading inaccurate health info
🔹Affirm CDC’s scientific integrity
🔹Guarantee safety of the HHS workforce
3/ Since the shooting, CDC staff say they’ve been harassed with phone calls.
Callers mockingly ask, “Are you resilient?” before playing gunfire sounds, echoing CDC’s own post-shooting messaging.
4/ And today, some of the very people working on gun violence & injury prevention were among those fired.
The timing has shaken many inside the agency.
5/ Security also confirmed the shooter tried to enter CDC’s visitor center two days before the attack, possibly scouting the site—just one day after Sec. Kennedy revoked mRNA vaccine funding.
One former employee told me: “I started as a college intern & spent nearly 26 years here. This work was my heart & my purpose, and having it stripped away hurts deeply.”
7/ Another said: “We’re not just lazy federal bureaucrats. We’ve poured our hearts & souls into this work, showing up day after day, weekend after weekend, to keep people safe.”
8/ Many described the process as “alienating, lonely, without regard, without humanity—traumatizing.”
These aren’t just job losses.
They’re lives of service suddenly cut off.
9/ The fear isn’t just personal.
Former staff worry that progress on urgent public health issues will be lost.
Issues that families face every day.
10/ Some worked on preventing concussions in kids’ sports.🏈
Others built programs to stop deadly falls in older adults.🧓
11/ Teams focused on drowning🌊🏊 prevention, firearm 🔫 death tracking, & protecting children from violence.
12/ On the global front, some of those laid off were working to stop mothers from passing HIV to their babies & to safeguard maternal & child health. 🌍👶
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Because a major new U.K. clinical trial—the largest & longest yet—found that even “improved” UPFs can’t match the benefits of minimally processed meals. 🍎🥗
2/ Brennan: "...you with the HHS Secretary in this video announcement on Tuesday where Secretary Kennedy said the CDC was removing the COVID vaccine for healthy children & healthy pregnant women from its recommended immunization schedule"
2/ Healthy infants may not die from COVID, but they’re at higher risk for ER visits and hospitalizations… both scary & costly.
3/ Pregnant women ARE at higher risk for severe COVID (& influenza).
Pregnancy is a period of immunosuppression (so that the woman’s immune system doesn’t reject the fetus as a foreign body) & stress on the lungs & heart.