Overview

• HHS announced that Susan Monarez is no longer CDC director and the White House confirmed her termination, while her attorneys say she was not properly notified and will contest the move.
• Within hours of the ouster announcement, Debra Houry, Demetre Daskalakis, Daniel Jernigan and Jennifer Layden resigned from senior posts, and three were escorted from the Atlanta campus the next day.
• Departing officials and Monarez’s lawyers say she resisted demands to fire staff and automatically endorse directives from a reshaped vaccine advisory panel, as the White House said she was not aligned with the president’s agenda.
• The FDA this week revoked earlier COVID-19 vaccine emergency authorizations and authorized new versions primarily for adults 65 and older and people at higher risk, narrowing access compared with last season.
• Bipartisan lawmakers called for oversight, a reconstituted vaccine panel is expected to meet next month, and Kennedy is scheduled to testify on Sept. 4, while anonymous officials told reporters that Jim O’Neill is under consideration to replace Monarez.