ATLANTA — Atlanta-based workers at the Centers for Disease Control are getting nervous about the upcoming transition to another Donald Trump administration.
They got a playbook in Trump’s first term during the pandemic. Now, with Robert Kennedy Jr. named as the cabinet secretary who will oversee the CDC, some workers are concerned that the government may decide they’re no longer needed.
"There is definitely uncertainty. Employees are worried that they’ll be forced to retire early, and some just think they may lose their jobs, period," said Yolanda Jacobs, president of Local 2883 of the American Federation of Government Employees.
She says the union has been doing anonymous email surveys of CDC employees in anticipation of a new contract.
The survey of CDC employees revealed more than a bit of anxiety about Trump’s second term and his latest choice that will supervise them.
President-Elect Trump nominated Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday. The department is a cabinet agency that oversees drugs, vaccines, food safety, and more.
According to the Associated Press, Kennedy is one of the most prominent anti-vaccine activists in the world and has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism and other health issues.
After this month’s election, Kennedy told NBC News that COVID-19 vaccines did not work as advertised.
"A lot of them call it 'anti-vaccine' or 'anti-vaxxer,'" Jacobs said.
But Kennedy said, "I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccines."
"They were saying, 'You need to take the vaccine to protect grandma.' I knew in May of 2020 that the vaccines were not going to protect against transmission because I was actually reading the studies then," Kennedy previously told NBC.
Kennedy hinted that some top personnel may be on the chopping block if he oversees U.S. health services.
"What starts at the top – you know, flows down to the bottom," Jacobs said.
There are about 9000 CDC employees based in Atlanta.
