“Vocal Supporter” of Vaccines Nominated to Be CDC Director

On Apr. 17, 2026, the Trump administration nominated retired Coast Guard rear admiral and former deputy surgeon general Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH to be the next director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Dr. Schwartz would succeed Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD who has been serving as acting director of the agency since mid-February.^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7}

The selection of Dr. Schwartz, who served as deputy surgeon general during the COVID-19 pandemic under President Trump’s first term, may be an attempt to placate members of Congress who have expressed opposition to changes in CDC vaccine recommendations and efforts to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule supported by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. during the past year. At least enough to push through the nomination.⁴

According to an article in Fierce Healthcare:

[Schwartz] played a key role in the federal government’s testing program during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, including as a physician responsible for ordering the tests used at drive-through sites en masse.⁴

Schwartz is a Traditionalist on Vaccines

Schwartz, who has been described as a “vocal supporter of vaccines” and a “traditional scientist on the vaccine front,” holds more conventional views about vaccines and vaccination policy than Secretary Kennedy. She is viewed as someone who might block or hinder moves by Kennedy to continue to substantively reform the vaccination system’s process for testing, licensing and making national universal use vaccine recommendations, as well as acknowledging and compensating victims of injuries and deaths caused by vaccines.^{4 8}

The decision to go with someone like Schartz is viewed by some as a political move based more on expediency than anything else.⁸ Pediatrician Niran Al-Agba, MD speculates:

Perhaps because the White House wants to insulate the health agency from the unflattering headlines in the run-up to midterm elections that may cost Republicans control of Congress and halt President Trump’s agenda.⁸

Unclear How Schwartz Would Work With Kennedy

“This seems like a dream pick,” said epidemiologist Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, director of the pandemic center at Brown University School of Public Health. “The bigger question is whether she’ll be allowed to do the job.”¹

Infectious disease physician Amesh Adalja, MD, who has been a strong advocate of the COVID-19 shots said he thought Schwartz is a “good pick as a person who could be CDC director under any administration. However, he is unsure she would have the ability to disagree with Kennedy over vaccine policy.¹

“If Dr. Schwartz has to answer to RFK Jr., what’s going to prevent him from trying to force his ideology on her the way he tried to do with [former CDC director] Dr. [Susan] Monarez?” Adalja said.¹

In a post on X, Kennedy thanked Trump for Schwartz’s nomination and said that he looked forward to working with her to “restore trust, accountability, and scientific integrity at the CDC.”⁹

The nomination has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), but no hearing date has yet been scheduled.¹⁰

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