"Kennedy is directly responsible for the villainization of CDC's workforce through his continuous lies about science and vaccine safety, which have fueled a climate of hostility and mistrust," one ex-employee wrote, according to the Associated Press news agency.

The shooting in Atlanta, which killed a police officer, followed the spread of false information around Covid vaccines and animosity directed at the agency, public health workers say.

A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that a Georgia man who opened fire Friday on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta had blamed the COVID-19 v