{"id":8470,"date":"2026-04-11T23:34:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/vaccine-advocate-dr-dan-edney-no-longer-a-candidate-to-lead-cdc-will-remain-mississippis-top-doc-mississippi-free-press\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T23:34:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:34:50","slug":"vaccine-advocate-dr-dan-edney-no-longer-a-candidate-to-lead-cdc-will-remain-mississippis-top-doc-mississippi-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/vaccine-advocate-dr-dan-edney-no-longer-a-candidate-to-lead-cdc-will-remain-mississippis-top-doc-mississippi-free-press\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaccine Advocate Dr. Dan Edney No Longer a Candidate to Lead CDC; Will Remain Mississippi\u2019s Top Doc – Mississippi Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mississippi Free Press<\/a>
\t\t\t\t\tJournalism by Mississippians, for Mississippians\t\t\t\t
Mississippi will be keeping its top doctor, State Health Officer Dan Edney, after the Trump administration delayed its search for a new director for the Centers for Disease Control.
Edney, who is the head of the Mississippi State Department of Health, was previously on the administration\u2019s shortlist<\/a> for leadership of the institution. But finding a qualified candidate palatable to those with real medical expertise and one appealing to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist who promotes unscientific medical practices and conspiracy theories, has proven to be virtually impossible. Neither Edney nor others named are expected to be nominated to the position in the near future.
That leaves Dr. Jay Bhattacharya\u2014a health economist most famous for his declaration that mass exposure to COVID-19 with \u201cfocused protection\u201d<\/a> only for those most at risk was the ideal response to the pandemic\u2014as the acting director of the agency.
In both a public health conference and a Thursday interview with the Mississippi Free Press, Edney confirmed that, after consideration, he would not pursue the opportunity to leave the state to take the post at the CDC in Atlanta.
\u201c\u200aI was incredibly honored when I received calls about my willingness to interview,\u201d Edney told this reporter. \u201cBut I made sure everybody knew, with all the interviews, that I was not looking for another post. I\u2019m extremely happy with my current position.\u201d
Edney acknowledged that he\u2019d put real thought in the possibility.
\u201cOf course, when there’s a national-level opportunity, you need to look at it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I never had a strong feeling of being called to it.\u201d
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Edney\u2019s inclusion in the search for a new CDC chief made national news, evidence that the Trump administration was considering a meaningful break with the RFK Jr.-led \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d ideology that has dominated the administration\u2019s health-care agenda in Trump\u2019s second term.
That Edney, a strong proponent of vaccination, was under serious consideration for the CDC position, did not pass unnoticed by some RFK Jr. associates, who highlighted his consistent pro-vaccine position as evidence that he would damage their movement if confirmed. Aaron Siri, a close legal advisor to the current HHS secretary who recently petitioned the FDA to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine<\/a>, wrote on social media that Edney \u201chas no business dispensing bandaids, let alone running the CDC.\u201d
Had he been confirmed, Edney would have likely been put directly at odds with his direct superior, HHS Secretary RFK Jr., the same untenable position that led to the expulsion of the previous CDC Director, Dr. Susan Monarez. Kennedy Jr. fired Monarez last August; she later testified to Congress that she had refused to go along with Kennedy\u2019s vaccine proposals and agency firings.
Edney did not comment directly on the contrast between himself and the Trump administration\u2019s past choices for medical leadership, but reaffirmed that he was a strong believer in the life-saving power of vaccination.
\u201c\u200aThe importance of vaccinations is really settled science,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have been studying these issues for 40 years, and we continue to study them. As new vaccines come online, we have to intensely continue to study.\u201d
Nor has he grown any more sympathetic to efforts to tie vaccination to conditions like autism in children.
\u201cVaccine rates nationwide have been steadily declining over a decade, and yet autism rates continue to climb,\u201d he said. \u201cThat linkage is not there. \u2026 At some point, the conversation needs to change to finding the real causes for these things we’re concerned about.\u201d
Edney said that he is in strong support of parental rights\u2014but that such rights have to be balanced with public health.
\u201c\u200aOur families need to make the decisions that we feel best for our children and grandchildren, but those decisions cannot cause harm to others,\u201d he said. \u201cThe whole reason for the vaccine regulations were that we had way too many children getting seriously ill. \u2026 We had children being born deaf because their mom got measles during pregnancy, developing encephalitis as an infant from getting measles. Name whatever complication you want. We needed to protect the children there.\u201d
Edney, had he been confirmed for the position, would have focused on improving the CDC\u2019s bilateral cooperation with state health agencies.
\u201cThe biggest thing the country needs is a healthy CDC: those of us at the state level depend on the CDC for so much in terms of expertise and capabilities that we just cannot have at the state level,\u201d he said.
\u201cThe workforce at the CDC needs to be encouraged, appreciated and recognized for all that they do,\u201d Edney continued. \u201cAnd the leadership at the CDC needs to understand what servant leadership means, and that humility is a superpower. And that the best way to exert any needed public health authority is to never do it in an authoritarian manner.\u201d
Edney still has years left in his term as State Health Officer, a post he intends to carry through to its conclusion. His top priority in the time allotted to him, he told the Mississippi Free Press, is tackling the state\u2019s infant and maternal mortality crises<\/a>.
\u201c\u200aMy number one priority is to do whatever it takes to reduce the rate of infant mortality in our state to lower than it has been in the last 20 years,\u201d Edney said. \u201cThat’s the minimum goal. I want us to fight our way to below the national average. It\u2019s doable. It may take more time than I have, but getting us on the right trajectory is critical.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Do the right thing and wait.<\/strong>
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Investigative Reporter Nick Judin joined the Jackson Free Press in 2019, initially covering the 2020 legislative session before spearheading the outlet’s COVID-19 coverage. His hard-hitting reporting, including probing interviews with state leaders and public-health experts, has earned national recognition. Now with the Mississippi Free Press, Nick continues to provide Mississippians with reliable, up-to-date pandemic insights, while also covering critical issues like Jackson’s water crisis, housing challenges, and other pressing community concerns.
Email the Jackson, Miss., native at nick@mississippifreepress.org.
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