ATLANTA – On Friday, a shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta caused a lot of damage. Patrick Joseph White, a man who purportedly blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for his melancholy and suicidal ideation, opened fire on campus, killing a police officer before security stopped him.
White shot more than 180 times, breaking about 150 windows, some of which were “blast-resistant,” according to reports from within the company. The damage injured several structures, such as the main guard booth and Building 21, which is where CDC Director Susan Monarez works. No CDC employees were hurt, but it will take weeks or even months to fix the damage.
Requests for More Help and Security
After the attack, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CDC Director Monarez went on a tour of the devastated site. Kennedy also visited with David Rose’s widow in private. Kennedy did not talk to the press during his visit, but he did make a statement condemning the violence.
The incident has made unionized CDC workers want tighter security even more. During a media call on Monday, employees suggested a number of ways to make things safer, such as:
Guards with a lot of weapons
Glass that won’t break
Better methods for alerts
Better evacuation strategies for staff who are at risk
Yolanda Jacobs, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2883, talked about how scared employees are right now. She said that some are even frightened to wear their public health uniforms in public. “It’s gotten to the point where we’re scared to talk to anyone like that because we don’t know who they are or what rhetoric they’ve taken in,” she said.
Starting the Debate Over Anti-Vaccine Rhetoric Again
The shooting has made people think more about how stories that are against vaccines and science affect people. Critics say that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Health Secretary, was a well-known leader in the anti-vaccine movement before he was appointed.
Dr. Jerome Adams, a former U.S. Surgeon General, talked about the duty of public figures on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He said that health authorities need to know that people are listening. He said that lying about how safe and effective vaccines are could have “unintended consequences.”
Stephan Monroe, a former CDC official, also said he was worried that the attack could have a long-term bad effect on young scientists’ willingness to work in public health. He called it a “generational hit” to the sector.