CDC director: Misinformation 'lead to deadly consequence" in Atlanta

Yahoo

9 hours ago

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told employees about the dangers of misinformation, four days after a suspected gunman shot at the agency's headquarters in Atlanta, claiming the COVID-19 vaccine made him sick.
On Tuesday, Susan Monarez met with staffers virtually and then sent a note to all 10,000 employees nationwide, obtained by ABC News. Staffers at the headquarters have been working remotely since the attack on Friday.
"The dangers of misinformation and its promulgation has now led to deadly consequences," she wrote. "I will work to restore trust in public health to those who have lost it -- through science, evidence and clarity of purpose. I will need your help."
The comments were slightly different than those during her staff meeting in which she said: "Public health should never be under attack. We know that misinformation can be dangerous."
She said the health agency can rebuild trust with "rational evidence-based discourse" with "compassion and understanding."
Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, told NBC News: "The irony is her boss is the biggest spreader of misinformation."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is secretary of the Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC.
In 2021, during the pandemic, Kennedy described the shot as the "deadliest vaccine ever made" after he filed a citizens' petition requesting that the Food and Drug Administration end emergency authorization.
Last week, Kennedy announced that HHS was moving to terminate $500 million in contracts to develop vaccines using mRNA technology, which was used to develop the COVID-19 vaccine in 2020.
"After reviewing the science and consulting top experts at NIH [National Institutes of Health] and FDA, HHS has determined that mRNA technology poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses,"
The American Medical Association backs mRNA vaccine research and the CDC still says on its website: "During the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 vaccines underwent the most intensive safety analysis in U.S. history."
Health officials have denounced skepticism of the research, noting the COVID-19 vaccine saved millions of lives in the United States.
"The Covid pandemic showed us what's possible when science moves fast," Rick Bright, who directed the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development from 2016 to 2020, told NBC News. "Dismantling that momentum now is like disbanding the fire department because the fire's out."
As head of the HHS, he has updated COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for the fall to be restricted to older adults and those with underlying health conditions. He also doesn't want children to get the shots.
On Monday, Kennedy toured the CDC campus in Atlanta and met with the widow of the one person slain in the attack, DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose. He toured with Monarez and HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill.
"He offered his deepest condolences and reaffirmed the agency's commitment to honoring officer Rose's bravery, sacrifice and service to the nation," HHS said.
Since the attack, the union representing CDC workers condemned the lack of support from top officials.
"This leadership is critical in reinforcing public trust and ensuring that accurate, science-based information prevails," the union said Sunday. "This condemnation is necessary to help prevent violence against scientists that may be incited by such disinformation."
The American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883, which represents more than 2,000 CDC workers, said in a statement Sunday that the attack "was not random and it compounds months of mistreatment, neglect and vilification that CDC staff have endured."
The union also said: "The deliberate targeting of CDC through this violent act is deeply disturbing, completely unacceptable and an attack on every public servant."
The father of the suspected gunman, 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White, reportedly told authorities he targeted the CDC over health problems he blamed on the COVID-19 vaccine. He said the shot made him depressed and suicidal.
He was fatally shot by police after around 200 bullets struck the six buildings. Five firearms were recovered.
"All indications are that this was an isolated event involving one individual," Jeff Williams, the deputy secretary of the CDC's Office of Safety, Security and Asset Management, said during the staff meeting Tuesday.