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Today on the show, checking in on the CDC.

When you see that folks aren't listening to scientists, not listening to experts, but are

rather like trying to make decisions without science, that's when harm begins.

We're checking in on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last week, Secretary Kennedy and the White House fired the CDC director after only a month

in the job. Right after, several other senior leaders resigned from the agency, including

Dr. Dmitri Daskalakis, an infectious disease

physician and former director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC.

Dimitri, welcome to Science Friday. Thank you so much for having me.

Okay, so you spent five years at CDC. You led the COVID vaccine task force. You became the head of immunizations. You were a civil servant for most of your career. You resigned a week ago. Was it a difficult decision? Yeah. I mean, I think that the actual action of resigning was one of the hardest decisions I've made in my life.

I'll say, however, my justification for resigning, that wasn't ambiguous.

Tell us a little more.

Yeah, I mean, I've worked in local public health during probably one of the most consequential moments in public health history was in New York City during

the beginning of COVID-19 in January 2020, where I was the incident commander. That meant being in

charge of the public health response for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. You know,

...