Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) clashed with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former CDC Director Susan Monarez during a heated Senate hearing on Wednesday.
Paul was pressing officials on the lack of evidence for giving vaccines to infants.
The hearing focused on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to oust Monarez last month.
Monarez claimed she was forced out after refusing to fire CDC staffers tied to the agency’s vaccine guidance.
She is insisting there was no scientific justification for removing certain vaccines from the list.
Paul, a physician, used his time to challenge the very recommendations Monarez defended.
“When we’re discussing the science here, we have to discuss what is the science in favor of giving the vaccine to a 6-month-old, and what are the benefits from that?” Paul said.
“And there is no benefit of hospitalization or death.
“And then what would the risks of that vaccine be?
“We have large population studies of the risks of the vaccine in younger people.”
Paul then pressed Monarez on her refusal to discipline the officials who pushed infant vaccination.
“You won’t fire the people who are saying we have to vaccinate our kids at 6 months of age,”