Virologist Steven J Hatfill, long known for his controversial views on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments has now been asked to resign from his role as Chief Medical Officer at the US Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Administration for Strategic Preparedness ad Response (ASPR). He was a vocal critic of the mRNA vaccines and proponent of hydroxychloroquine as the treatment for COVID-19. He has now been asked to step down, this has come in less than six months of him joining the agency, Resignation Request From Senior OfficialsAccording to Hatfill, the request for his resignation came directly from Matt Buckham, Chief of Staff at ASPR, who informed him that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had personally asked for his removal.“He stated that they were taking ASPR in a different direction,” Hatfill said in a written statement released Sunday. “I refused to resign and asked to speak to the Secretary directly. It appears that the Secretary is being sequestered, and HHS is in a free fall.”While Hatfill maintains he has not yet been formally terminated, an administration official speaking anonymously described his removal as “for cause,” indicating that the decision had already been finalized internally, as reported by Bloomberg. Was There A Dispute Over Vaccine Policy and Public Messaging?Hatfill’s departure follows growing internal tensions over the administration’s recent decision to terminate nearly two dozen mRNA-related vaccine projects valued at around $500 million.The decision, supported by a 181-page report that Hatfill helped compile, argued that mRNA-based vaccines “fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.” The claim echoed statements made earlier this year by Secretary Kennedy, who has long questioned the efficacy and safety of certain vaccines.However, health experts and multiple peer-reviewed studies have repeatedly found that COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death — even if they do not always prevent mild infections.Controversial Statements Hatfill Has MadeShortly after contributing to the vaccine report, Hatfill appeared on Stephen K. Bannon’s War Room podcast, where he made several alarming claims about vaccine safety.“It was more dangerous to take a vaccine than it was to contract COVID-19 and be hospitalized with it,” he said during the interview. He further alleged, without evidence, that “the vaccines have injured hundreds of thousands” and that an unknown number of people had died from vaccination.These remarks drew widespread criticism from the scientific community, with experts reiterating that vaccine safety is continuously monitored through established federal systems and that serious adverse effects remain exceedingly rare.Before joining HHS, Hatfill served as a White House adviser during President Donald Trump’s administration, where he promoted hydroxychloroquine as a potential COVID-19 treatment — a claim that was later discredited and led U.S. regulators to revoke its emergency authorization in 2020.Hatfill also gained notoriety in the early 2000s when he was named a “person of interest” in the FBI’s investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people and sickened 17 others. He was formally cleared of any wrongdoing in 2008, and the government paid him $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit related to the case.
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