By Ahmed Aboulenein and Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has named his deputy, Jim O’Neill, as acting director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after ousting the former director less than a month into her tenure.

President Donald Trump fired on Wednesday CDC Director Susan Monarez after she resisted changes to vaccine policy advanced by Kennedy that she believed contradicted scientific evidence, further destabilizing the already embattled agency.

“Together, we will rebuild this institution into what it was always meant to be: a guardian of America’s health and security,” Kennedy wrote on Thursday in a memo to CDC staff seen by Reuters. “To help advance this mission, I am pleased to announce that Dep

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