Introduction to the Resignation of Dr. Peter Marks
Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulator, has resigned, an official at the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.
A person familiar with the matter told NBC News that Marks was forced out of his position.
Background on Dr. Peter Marks
Dr. Peter Marks, then-director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, testifies on Capitol Hill, on May 11, 2021.Jim Lo Scalzo / Pool via AP file
In a resignation letter to acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner, Marks wrote that undermining confidence in vaccines is “irresponsible, detrimental to public health, and a clear danger to our nation’s health, safety, and security.” He said that he had been willing to work with Kennedy to address any concerns about vaccine safety and transparency.
Reasons Behind the Resignation
However, it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote. Marks did not respond to a request for comment. Marks has led the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, or CBER, since 2016. The division is responsible for assuring the safety and effectiveness of a number of medical products, including vaccines.
Role of Dr. Marks in Covid Pandemic
Marks helped lead the nation through the Covid pandemic, playing a key role in authorizing the first Covid vaccines in late 2020, from first from Pfizer-BioNTech and then shortly after, Moderna. He helped launch Operation Warp Speed, the first Trump administration’s private-public partnership to quickly develop the vaccines.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Capitol Hill on Jan. 29.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images file
Criticism from Anti-Vaccine Activist
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, has been critical of the Covid vaccines, and filed a citizens petition in 2021 requesting that the FDA revoke the authorization of the vaccines. That same year, he called described the Covid vaccine as the “deadliest vaccine ever made.” Kennedy has also worked to undermine confidence in the measles vaccine amid the largest outbreak the United States has seen since 2019.
Impact of Undermining Vaccine Confidence
While he’s said vaccines protect children from the measles, he’s also said the decision to vaccinate is a “personal” one. In a recent interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Kennedy said the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine “does cause deaths every year.” There have been no deaths linked to the MMR vaccine in healthy people, according to the Infectious Disease Society of America. The vaccine is not recommending for immunocompromised people.
Conclusion
The ongoing multistate measles outbreak that is particularly severe in Texas reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined,” Marks wrote in his resignation letter. “Measles, which killed more than 100,000 unvaccinated children last year in Africa and Asia owing to pneumonitis and encephalitis caused by the virus, had been eliminated from our shores,” he wrote.
FAQs
Q: Who is Dr. Peter Marks?
A: Dr. Peter Marks is the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulator.
Q: Why did Dr. Peter Marks resign?
A: Dr. Peter Marks resigned due to the undermining of confidence in vaccines, which he believes is “irresponsible, detrimental to public health, and a clear danger to our nation’s health, safety, and security.”
Q: What is the role of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research?
A: The division is responsible for assuring the safety and effectiveness of a number of medical products, including vaccines.
Q: What is Operation Warp Speed?
A: Operation Warp Speed is the first Trump administration’s private-public partnership to quickly develop the Covid vaccines.
