The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez, has been dismissed less than one month into her job amid other high-profile resignations over vaccine policies and health directives, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the White House.

"Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people," HHS said. 

Monarez not 'aligned' with Trump's MAHA goals, White House says

The post did not provide a reason for her early departure. White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in an email statement to the media that Monarez had been dismissed.

"Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC," the statement said, adding that Monarez was not "aligned with the President's agenda of Making America Healthy Again."

Monarez's lawyers said she was "targeted" for standing up against the "dangerous politicization of science."

"When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted," her lawyers Mark Zaid and Abbe David said in a statement.

"As a person of integrity and devoted to science, she will not resign," the lawyers said before the White House issued its statement.

"This is not about one official. It is about the systematic dismantling of public health institutions, the silencing of experts, and the dangerous politicization of science. The attack on Dr. Monarez is a warning to every American: our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within," they added.

Four senior CDC officials resign

Monarez's abrupt and public apparent dismissal came ahead of resignations from four of the top officials in the CDC.

The agency's top medical officer, Dr. Debra Houry, the head of CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Dr. Daniel Jernigan, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, and director for Public Health Data, Surveillance and Technology, Dr. Jennifer Layden, resigned from their positions.

An email from Hourly detailed the crippling effects of budget cuts, reorganizations and dismissals that prevented her from doing her job. She also wrote about rising misinformation about vaccines during US President Donald Trump's second administration.

In his resignation letter, Daskalakis said Monarez was "hamstrung and sidelined by an authoritarian leader." He warned that pleasing political bases would result in "death and disability of vulnerable children and adults."

CDC's Kennedy problem

Monarez's dismissal was first reported by the Washington Post, which said she refused to support changing vaccine policies sought by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — known to be a vaccine skeptic. 

Since taking office, Kennedy has overhauled the US vaccine policy, dismissed immunization experts, reduced access to COVID-19 vaccines and prevented development on advanced vaccines.

In early August, the Atlanta-based CDC office faced an armed attack by a man who blamed Covid vaccines for an unspecified illness. As a response, hundreds of the agency's employees  condemned Kennedy for putting people at risk by spreading misinformation.

Edited by Sean Sinico