The former deputy surgeon general will be taking control of a vital agency amid a measles surge and an outbreak of cyclosporiasis

NEED TO KNOW

• Dr. Erica Schwartz has been confirmed as the new head of the CDC after nearly a year without a permanent leader
• Her appointment comes amid U.S. health crises including a measles surge and an outbreak of cyclosporiasis
• Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general, has been a vocal supporter of childhood vaccines

Dr. Erica Schwartz has been confirmed as the new head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, stepping in to take the lead of a vital agency that’s been without a permanent leader since Dr. Susan Monarez was fired last August.

Her appointment comes at a turbulent time for health policy in the U.S., as the nation is dealing with a record-breaking surge in measles cases and an ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis that recently caused two deaths. The health crises come after President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made scientifically unfounded claims about childhood vaccines and autism.

At her confirmation hearing, Schwartz said, “I am all in on the Make America Healthy Again agenda,” but per The New York Times, she has been a vocal supporter of childhood vaccines in the past.

Last September, Monarez told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that she’d been expected to rubber-stamp Kennedy’s picks for a crucial vaccine advisory board. As she said, he “directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] recommendation, regardless of the scientific method.”

Monarez said Kennedy “also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause. He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign.”

She chose not to voluntarily give up her position and was fired on Aug. 27.

Schwartz has a medical degree from Brown University and served in the U.S. Navy until 2005. She was the Coast Guard Chief Medical Officer for the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. During the first Trump administration, she served as Deputy Surgeon General.

The American College of Preventive Medicine approved of Schwartz’s appointment. “Preventive Medicine physicians are exactly the kind of leaders we need at the forefront of our health and public health infrastructure,” they said in a statement. “We wish Dr. Schwartz well and look forward to working with her to prevent the onset of chronic and infectious disease and promote wellness throughout the nation.”

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The change comes amid health crises and a lack of leadership.

“Morale at CDC is lower than it’s ever been — and we have seen the grave impact this has on our country’s public health,” Yolanda Jacobs, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883, which represents CDC employees, said in a statement, per the NYT. “A new CDC director has an opportunity to turn the tide.”

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