The 17 members of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee, who were ousted last week, argued their abrupt dismissal has "left the U.S. vaccine program critically weakened."

Fiona Havers, who oversees CDC respiratory virus data, told colleagues she no longer had confidence the data would be used objectively to set vaccine policy.

Critics fear that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services chief RFK, Jr., known for his antivaccine views, has picked a crucial CDC committee that will be a “disaster for public health”