{"id":593,"date":"2026-07-16T04:09:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T04:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=593"},"modified":"2026-07-16T04:09:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T04:09:03","slug":"cdc-nominee-walks-tightrope-on-vaccines-service-under-rfk-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=593","title":{"rendered":"CDC nominee walks tightrope on vaccines, service under RFK Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday\u00a0attempted to demonstrate that she can restore trust in the agency, during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing.<\/p>\n

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The issue of vaccines took center stage during the hearing for Erica Schwartz, who\u00a0sought to assure senators that she wouldn\u2019t take steps to restrict vaccine access or spread misinformation, while also proving that she can work under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/p>\n

Chair\u00a0Bill Cassidy, R-La., who\u00a0will be leaving the Senate after he lost his primary to Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow\u00a0this spring, did not mince his words.<\/p>\n

The issue of vaccines has been \u201csettled,\u201d he said, but has been mired in misinformation such as a link\u00a0between immunization and\u00a0autism. The CDC last year removed the hepatitis B vaccine from the list of universally recommended doses received at birth, which drew backlash from the medical community.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to wonder why people would spread that misinformation,\u201d Cassidy said.<\/p>\n

He repeatedly pressed Schwartz over whether she was prepared push back against pressure from superiors to make decisions that aren\u2019t based in science. Cassidy harkened back to the exit of former CDC Director Susan\u00a0Monarez\u00a0less than a month on the\u00a0job over disagreements with Kennedy.<\/p>\n

Monarez said that she had been asked to sign off on the CDC\u2019s vaccine advisers\u2019 recommendations ahead of time and to fire career CDC officials who disagreed with Kennedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a CDC director that will actually stand up to crazy, stupid things being said that undermine faith in immunization,\u201d Cassidy said.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ve got thousands of kids hospitalized because people have promoted that immunization is bad, and now kids have died because of it. It is evil to do that, and people persist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the hearing, Schwartz cited her past experience as a rear admiral for the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a uniformed service focused on health issues, where she oversaw the Coast Guard\u2019s system of clinics. She also previously served as an occupational medicine physician for the Navy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf confirmed, my first priority will be restoring trust in public health institutions through radical transparency and unwavering scientific integrity,\u201d she told the committee.<\/p>\n

The CDC has been without a permanent director for nearly a year. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya has been serving as interim director since February. Trump\u2019s original choice to lead the agency, former Florida congressman Dave Weldon, withdrew\u00a0before his confirmation hearing after support wavered because of his past statements about vaccines.<\/p>\n

Vitamin K shots<\/h2>\n

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked Schwartz whether she is prepared to contradict recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices if they go against science. The CDC earlier this year got backlash from pediatric health experts over its decision to remove the flu vaccine from the list of universally recommended childhood vaccines.<\/p>\n

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Schwartz responded that she would work with career scientists at the CDC to review the panel\u2019s recommendations before making a final decision, adding that the HHS secretary holds the ultimate decision-making power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe buck stops with the CDC director when it comes to vaccine recommendations,\u201d Hassan countered.<\/p>\n

In response to a question from Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., Schwartz said she is supportive of vaccine mandates for military members in \u201ccertain circumstances.\u201d\u00a0 Schwartz also said she is supportive of vitamin K shots for infants, which are recommended within six hours of birth to assist with blood clotting. An increasing number of parents are refusing the vitamin K shot over growing skepticism of unnecessary medical interventions, often conflating them with vaccines.<\/p>\n

Alsobrooks, alongside Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Wash., is leading an effort to urge the CDC to start tracking refusals of vitamin K shots by new parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cVitamin K can absolutely reduce hemorrhaging in newborns,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely safe and it\u2019s effective and I urge all parents to get the vitamin K shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The committee also heard testimony from Sean Kaufman, Trump\u2019s pick to serve as the HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response, a role that oversees the administration\u2019s response to public health emergencies and natural disasters. Kaufman struggled to convince Cassidy that he would pour money into messenger RNA vaccine research in his position at the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want a better mRNA platform but I believe before we proceed we owe it to those who had issues, not just to those who benefited and did okay, we owe it to everyone to explore how we can make the mRNA platform more viable,\u201d Kaufman said.<\/p>\n

Cassidy also pointed to comments Kaufman previously made on LinkedIn, reported by STAT, that cast doubt on the hepatitis B vaccine and suggested a link between vaccines and autism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would you repeat the damn lies?\u201d Cassidy asked. \u201cBecause that destroys trust, and we don\u2019t start getting back to where we trust unless people speak the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more No Graham heir apparent to help shape Trump\u2019s foreign policy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday\u00a0attempted to demonstrate that she can restore trust in the agency, during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing. 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