WASHINGTON — Sen. Lisa Murkowski broke from other Republicans on the Senate health committee at a hearing Wednesday on the firing last month of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Murkowski said the hearing was about more than Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s decision to terminate Susan Monarez.

“It’s about trust in our public health institutions,” Murkowski said, “because that’s what I’m worried most about.”

The hearing focused on the nation’s vaccine policy. Kennedy dismissed a panel of vaccine experts in June and replaced them with his chosen members, who mostly share his belief that the CDC’s previously recommended vaccine schedule is bad for children.

Vaccine skepticism is gaining ground across the United States, though dozens of medical associa

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