Susan Monarez was terminated after 29 days as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to change the immunization schedule for children, the fired director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) testified on Sept. 17.
"We got into an exchange where I had suggested I would be open to changing childhood vaccine schedules if the evidence or science were supportive, and he responded that there was no science or evidence associated with the childhood vaccine schedule," Monarez said.
"Any potential changes to the childhood vaccine schedule will be based on the latest available science and only after the ACIP recommends it and the Acting CDC Director reviews and approves those recommendations," a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC's parent agency, told The Epoch Times in an email.
Monarez said, "The childhood vaccine schedule has been vetted and validated through science and evidence."
Every vaccine on the schedule is important, she said.
"I think that every parent should have the opportunity to talk to their pediatrician to make sure that they understand the benefits and the risks of those vaccines, and what is in the best interest of their children," she said.
Monarez told senators that in the Aug. 25 meeting, Kennedy directed her to commit to approving every recommendation from the ACIP..
"He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause," she said.
Monarez said that Kennedy told her that unless she was willing to preapprove the recommendations and fire the officials, she should resign.
"I responded that I could not preapprove recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis to fire scientific experts," Monarez said.
Kennedy said that Monarez had pledged not to sign off on any advice from the committee and that he met with her to secure a promise that she would be open to approving committee recommendations.
The White House has said that Monarez was fired because she was not aligned with the Make America Healthy Again agenda promoted by President Donald Trump and Kennedy, whose department includes the CDC.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chairman of the Senate Health Committee, which was holding the Sept. 17 hearing, and a critic of some of Kennedy's moves, called Monarez and Houry to testify.
"The American people need all the facts, not a version of the facts that fits a certain narrative or agenda," he said at the start of the hearing.
Monarez is a longtime government health official who has a doctorate in microbiology and immunology. She was the first CDC director to ever be confirmed by the Senate, under new rules that took effect this year, and was the first CDC director since 1953 to lack a medical degree.
After she was terminated, Monarez's lawyers had said that she was targeted because she "refused to rubberstamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts." She said later, in an op-ed, that Kennedy wanted her to preapprove recommendations concerning vaccines.
Kennedy said in his recent appearance before the Senate Finance Committee that Monarez was fired because she told him during a meeting that she was not trustworthy.
That meeting was held after Kennedy heard that Monarez would not approve any recommendations from ACIP, according to Kennedy.
"I told her I didn't want her to have a rule she was not going to sign" recommendations from the panel, he said.
"I told the secretary that if he could not trust me, he could fire me," Monarez said on Sept. 17.
The health secretary also acknowledged that he had directed Monarez to fire certain CDC officials. Neither he nor Monarez have identified the officials in question.
Kennedy has frequently criticized the CDC for its past actions, including recommending masks for children as young as 2 years of age during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"All those unscientific interventions failed to do anything about the disease itself," he said during the Sept. 4 hearing, describing a need for new leadership at the agency.
Federal health officials will be invited to respond to allegations from Monarez and Houry at a future hearing, according to Cassidy.