Hundreds of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workers and supporters gathered at its entrance Thursday to hail the four top leaders who had resigned en masse, while shock waves from the events of the preceding 24 hours pulsed through Atlanta, Washington and public health circles nationwide.

“We are heartbroken to have left but we had to do it,” Dr. Debra Houry, former chief medical officer at the CDC, told the cheering crowd.

Citing “the devastation that’s happening to our staff, our campus, the programs,” Houry said, “We love you all. We’ll do what it takes now to be on the other side, and support public health.”

The resignations happened abruptly Wednesday as news broke that CDC Director Susan Monarez was being forced out over her refusal to rubber-stamp vaccine policies

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