This week has been an eventful one for America’s public health agency. Two former leaders of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained why they suddenly departed in a Senate hearing. They also described how CDC employees are being instructed to turn their backs on scientific evidence.
They painted a picture of a health agency in turmoil—and at risk of harming the people it is meant to serve. And, just hours afterwards, a panel of CDC advisers voted to stop recommending the MMRV vaccine for children under four. Read the full story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.
If you’re interested in reading more about US vaccine policy, check out:
+ Read our profile of Jim O’Neill, the deputy health secretary and current acting CDC director.
+ Why US federal health agencies are abandoning mRNA vaccines. Read the full story.
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