Top U.S. health agencies permanently fire 600 CDC employees

The union representing workers said the top U.S. health bureau has permanently fired 600 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Many staff members have already enjoyed paid administrative leave in a massive layoff proposed by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, according to data from the United States Government Employees (AFGE).

The migration from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finally determined that staff across the agency fired fire, including the Office of Violence Prevention and Equal Employment Opportunity, the coalition said.

The layoffs came two weeks after a gunman opened fire at his Atlanta headquarters.

The shootings exacerbated the recent trauma experienced by CDC staff following the August 8 shooting, with one gunman killed after the building fired at the building, AFGE said in a statement.

“After violent attacks on campus, the cruel decision to make these illegal separations immediately with their established commitments to both promote the recovery of CDC employees and undermine the stability of our institution,” the organization said.

HHS confirmed the shooting at the BBC and referred reporters to Kennedy’s announcement in March that he said 10,000 workers would be evacuated, including 2,400 employees from the CDC and others from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Many CDC employees were taken to paid administrative leave after the proposed layoffs, while the court faced the legal challenge of firing the gun.

Last week, a federal judge in Rhode Island perfected the July order to prevent the government from firing any CDC employees, and only prohibiting HHS from firing employees from six CDC departments.

Kennedy said the changes were intended to reduce the “spread of bureaucracy” and refocus the institutions on “reversing the chronic epidemic”, a key priority for him, Kennedy said.

He said the firing would save taxpayers $1.8B (£1.3B) per year.

The widespread layoffs include those engaged in government responses to infectious diseases, including bird flu, as well as those who study environmental hazards and handle public record requests.

Since taking office, vaccine critic Kennedy has made many funding cuts and changes to how the United States recommends and regulates immunizations that have angered public health experts.

Earlier this week, a team of more than 750 former and current HHS employees wrote to Kennedy, accusing him of fueling violence by public health workers in the wake of the attacks at the CDC headquarters.

Kennedy has spread the misinformation of vaccines and sowed distrust of public health, which has led to harassing health officials, they said.

Investigators said the man fired 500 rounds of bullets (dead of gunshot wounds from self-injury) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – accusing a 19,009 vaccine that left him feeling frustrated and suicide.