Overview
- Dr. Erica Schwartz told staff in her first all‑hands meeting that she was sorry employees had lived under “extreme psychological unsafety” and pledged to create open, blame‑free conversations and radical transparency.
- The agency has lost more than 3,000 workers, over one‑quarter of its staff, leaving programs understaffed, morale low, and routine public‑health work strained.
- Schwartz said the CDC is part of the new Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines and that the group, which has not yet met, will produce information for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices rather than replace that independent advisory body.
- She told employees she will advocate for the agency inside the Department of Health and Human Services and will voice disagreements with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. privately rather than in public.
- Wednesday’s meeting came after a year of leadership turnover, legal fights that have paused ACIP activity, and ongoing outbreak responses, and staff leaders said Schwartz’s words will need follow‑up in hiring, advisory‑body restoration, and concrete protections for staff to matter.