Senate confirms CDC director; Alaska's vaccine question stays open

The U.S. Senate confirmed Erica Schwartz of Florida as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, 51-44. The vote ends a vacancy that left the agency without a confirmed leader for nearly a year. Whether Schwartz revisits the Department of Health and Human Services' reduced pediatric vaccine schedule, including a delayed hepatitis B birth dose, remains unsettled. U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both Alaska Republicans, voted yea.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed Director Susan Monarez less than a month into her tenure after she refused pressure to change vaccine policy. With no confirmed director in place, HHS reduced the number of recommended pediatric vaccines. Alaska News previously covered the Senate health committee's postponed vote on Schwartz.

Murkowski told the Senate health committee that the state once had the highest hepatitis B rates in the nation, "particularly in our Alaska Native communities and with Alaska Native children." She said universal newborn immunization virtually eliminated transmission there.

Schwartz told the committee she believes vaccines are safe and effective. She said she supports mRNA technology, which Kennedy has criticized. Democratic and independent senators who voted no, including Tammy Baldwin, said Schwartz did not commit to opposing Kennedy's vaccine agenda.

The American Hospital Association welcomed the confirmation. Parents and pediatric health advocates said they remain alarmed that HHS trimmed the childhood vaccine schedule while the directorship sat empty, and that they will watch whether Schwartz reverses or endorses those changes.