HHS did not answer written questions about Monarez’s nomination, her current role at the CDC or her salary. An employee directory lists Monarez, a longtime government employee, as a staffer for the NIH under the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.

A medical officer at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who was working on the committee that was weighing changes to the agency’s Covid-19 vaccine recommendations resigned on Friday, the same day officials the US Department of Health and Human Services announced they had removed the CDC recommendation for pregnant women and healthy children to get Covid-19 vaccines.