Hundreds of CDC employees reinstated after being laid off

Hundreds of CDC employees rehired

More than 460 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been reinstated after being laid off earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed Wednesday.

ATLANTA - More than 460 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been reinstated after being laid off earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

What we know:

The employees are among the approximately 2,400 CDC staffers let go in April, a move that sparked widespread backlash and legal challenges. According to HHS, the reinstated workers include 200 employees from the Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention and another 150 from the Environmental Health division, which includes a lab focused on lead poisoning prevention.

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Former employees and public health advocates have criticized the layoffs for leaving vital public health positions vacant. Reese Williams, a former CDC worker, said the terminations affected key personnel.

"They fired a lot of our scientists, a lot of our public health communicators, a lot of anybody to do with DEI, birth defects, anything to do with smoke and health, domestic abuse and domestic violence," Williams said.

Williams says the 2,400 roles that were eliminated this year played a critical role in public health.

"They took a part a lot of the funding for our global partners. Funding that goes for Ebola or for these diseases that don't necessarily effect us, but could effect us, they took away a lot of that," she said.

This is the second wave of reinstatements. In February, about 180 employees who were laid off were later asked to return. Despite the new round of rehirings, thousands of jobs remain unfilled, and officials have not indicated if additional reinstatements are forthcoming.

Employees say many vital positions are still left empty.

"Eventually, we will all feel this. Even the ones who think they won't feel it. We're going to feel it," Reese said.

Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has appointed eight new members to the federal vaccine advisory committee. The move follows his abrupt dismissal of the previous panel earlier this week. Among the new appointees is Dr. Robert Malone, a controversial figure known for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.

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The committee advises the CDC director on how approved vaccines should be used nationwide.

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