The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s principal deputy director, Dr. Ralph Abraham, has stepped down from his role and left the agency effective immediately, according to reports released Monday.
Abraham reportedly decided to step down “to address unforeseen family obligations,” according to a statement from the CDC. No further details were released.
“It has been an honor to serve alongside the dedicated public health professionals at the CDC and to support the agency’s critical mission,” Abraham said.
He is the second top official to exit the CDC this month, after starting his role in early January amid a wave of departures at the agency, The Guardian reported.
Abraham has previously referred to the COVID-19 vaccine as “dangerous” and is among several vaccine skeptics who have left the Trump administration’s health roles, according to The New York Times.
“His departure thins the ranks of vaccine skeptics at the agency’s helm, a sign of the administration’s pivot away from the agenda pursued thus far by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his appointees,” The Times reported.
In his role as Louisiana’s surgeon general, Abraham ordered his state to stop urging people to get vaccinated and called the measles outbreaks during his time at the CDC as the “cost of doing business” as the country could lose its measles elimination status, according to The Times.
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