WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, David Weldon, will tell lawmakers on Thursday he plans to recommend the measles vaccines for children, Bloomberg News reported.
Weldon is set to appear on Thursday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for a confirmation hearing where lawmakers are expected to grill him over his longtime criticism of vaccines amid rising measles and bird flu threats he would be charged with curbing.
His remarks were first reported on Wednesday by Bloomberg, which cited his prepared testimony for the hearing. The statement did not mention whether he would support vaccination for other diseases, Bloomberg reported. In his statement he said he would focus on “restoring public confidence” in the CDC.
If confirmed, Weldon, a physician and former Republican congressman who has opposed abortion rights, would be at the helm of an agency with a $17.3 billion budget, which tracks and responds to domestic and foreign threats to public health.
While in Congress, Weldon challenged studies upholding the safety of childhood vaccines, asserting that they were harmful and linked with autism, a theory scientists have long debunked.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein, editing by Deepa Babington)
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