Rand Paul grills former CDC Director Susan Monarez on vaccine requirements for 6-month-olds

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) went after former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez Wednesday, charging she was fired from the prestigious health agency last month for promoting infant vaccination.

Monarez, 50, had been answering questions from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) over her abrupt firing Aug. 27 after clashing with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“You resisted firing people who have this idea that the COVID vaccine should be [given] at six months. That’s what this is about,” Paul, 62, argued during a heated back-and-forth.

“You didn’t resist firing the beautiful scientists, the career people … [who were] unobjective and unbiased. You wouldn’t fire the people who are saying that we have to vaccinate our kids at six months of age. That’s who you refuse to fire,” he added.

“That assertion is not commensurate with the experience that I had with the individuals who were identified to be fired,” Monarez countered.

Many of Paul’s colleagues on the HELP panel appeared sympathetic to Monarez as she claimed Kennedy demanded she dismiss “officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause” while pre-approving recommendations from the HHS secretary’s hand-picked Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

Paul, an opthamologist by training, revisited one of his favorite topics during the hearing by discoursing on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines among kids.

“Does the COVID vaccine reduce hospitalization for children under 18?” he pressed.  

“It can,” Monarez responded, prompting Paul to insist, “It doesn’t.”

Paul also took issue with the administration of hepatitis B vaccines to newborns, which has been standard practice since the early 1990s, but is speculated to be walked back under Kennedy’s HHS leadership.

“When we’re discussing the science here, we have to discuss, what is the science in favor of giving the vaccine to a 6-month-old, and what are the benefits from that?” Paul asked. “And then what would the risks of that vaccine be?”

“I actually agree with you, and I was open to the science,” Monarez replied. “I just would not recommit to approving all the ACIP [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] recommendations.”

“Untrue,” Paul shot back as his alloted question time ended.

“CDC doesn’t force anyone to get vaccinated,” Monarez reminded lawmakers later in the hearing. “CDC provids recommendations supported by evidence to allow parents and physicians and others to make a choice, a decision, in the best interest of themselves and the health of their families.”

The GOP-led Senate voted to confirm Monarez, a trained microbiologist with extensive experience on infectious diseases, on July 29, and she was sworn into her role as CDC director two days later.

She was the first CDC chief to be confirmed by the Senate and has been replaced on an acting basis by HHS deputy secretary Jim O’Neill.