WASHINGTON (TNND) -- More than 1,000 current and former employees at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said they want Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to step down from his position at the agency.
The workers sent a three-page letter to Kennedy on Wednesday, saying they think he should resign immediately because he is"compromising the health of this nation."
We swore an oath to support and defend the United States Constitution and to serve the American people. Our oath requires us to speak out when the Constitution is violated and the American people are put at risk. Thus, we warn the President, Congress, and the Public that Secretary Kennedy's actions are compromising the health of this nation, and we demand Secretary Kennedy's resignation," they wrote in the letter.
Should he decline to resign, we call upon the President and U.S. Congress to appoint a new Secretary of Health and Human Services, one whose qualifications and experience ensure that health policy is informed by independent and unbiased peer-reviewed science," according to the letter. "We expect those in leadership to act when the health of Americans is at stake."
The letter comes nearly a month after a shooter fired hundreds of rounds at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta.
A police officer was killed in the August 8 attack.
The suspect, later identified as 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White, blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, according to a probe led by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
At the time, a union that represents CDC workers said the shooting was not random and "compounds months of mistreatment, neglect, and vilification that CDC staff have endured."
Following the shooting and its aftermath, more than 750 HHS staff members urged Kennedy to stop "spreading inaccurate health information," as well as "affirm CDC's scientific integrity, and guarantee the safety of the HHS workforce."
They made their feelings known in an initial letter they sent on August 20. Since then, the number of signatories increased to 6,370, including 887 from HHS, according to the workers.
"The attack came amid growing mistrust in public institutions, driven by politicized rhetoric that has turned public health professionals from trusted experts into targets of villainization -- and now, violence," they wrote.
"CDC is a public health leader in America's defense against health threats at home and abroad. When a federal health agency is under attack, America's health is under attack. When the federal workforce is not safe, America is not safe. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is complicit in dismantling America's public health infrastructure and endangering the nation's health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information," according to the letter.
A few days before the shooting, Kennedy announced HHS planned to cancel contracts and pull funding for more than 20 mRNA vaccines because they pose "more risk than benefits."
Over the past few weeks, BARDA reviewed 22 mRNA vaccine development investments and began canceling them," Kennedy, who is known as a vaccine critic, said in the footage.
After reviewing the science and consulting top experts at NIH and FDA, HHS has determined that mRNA technology poses more risk than benefits for these respiratory viruses," he added.
Kennedy said most of the shots are for the flu or COVID.
As the pandemic showed us, mRNA vaccines don't perform well against viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract," he said.
Millions of people, maybe even you or someone you know, caught the Omicron variant despite being vaccinated," he added. "That's because a single mutation can make mRNA vaccines ineffective. The same risk applies to flu."
The projects are being led by some of the nation's leading pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Moderna.
Kennedy said he wants the health department to move away from mRNA vaccines, calling on the department to start "investing in better solutions."