STAT+: CDC interim leaders, in first all-hands meeting, speak of ‘myth-busting’ and ‘resilience’

In their first all-staff meeting since the start of the Trump administration, the interim leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attempted to sidestep controversy and rally troops at the storied but demoralized agency on Tuesday.

Staff were told CDC director nominee Susan Monarez has begun meeting with senators in advance of a still-unscheduled Senate confirmation hearing. They were also informed the June meeting of the agency’s expert vaccine panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, will be shorter than anticipated because the eight new members of the committee — 17 previous members were fired last week by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — are not yet in a position to deal with all the agenda items.

There were no audible outbursts from staff during the tightly scripted hour-long meeting, which STAT listened to. But an email sent to agency personnel on Monday from CDC’s Office of Safety, Security, and Asset Management suggested there may have been fears the meeting could have been tense. “In advance of tomorrow’s CDC All-Staff meeting, we wanted to provide staff with the following reminders,” it began. Among the reminders was a list of items staff may not bring on CDC campuses that included firearms, mace or pepper sprays, or bladed tools. (STAT has viewed a copy of the email.)

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