At least three high-level officials have resigned in protest against the policies of Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy.

By Al Jazeera Staff

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that it is firing Susan Monarez, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), just weeks after her official confirmation to the post, and days after 600 CDC staff were sacked.

Monarez’s ousting has thrown the US’s top health agency into a leadership crisis as it has prompted an unprecedented wave of high-profile resignations from several other senior officials in protest.

On the same day as Monarez was sacked – Wednesday this week – Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who previously headed an anti-vaccine group, also announced that COVID-19 vaccine mandates under former President Joe Biden’s administration had been rescinded.