Some employees blamed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for spreading vaccine misinformation, which, they say, may have villainized the CDC in the eyes of some. Some media outlets have reported that the suspected shooter, 30-year-old Patrick White, believed that the Covid-19 vaccine made him sick. White died at the scene, authorities said.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workers whose jobs have been reinstated after dizzying Trump administration disruptions say they remain stuck in a budgetary, political, and professional limbo.

The gunman in Friday's deadly shooting outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters had become fixated and outspoken against the COVID-19 vaccine, according to what his family told police.

The U.S. CDC has tightened security following an attack Friday on its Atlanta headquarters that left a police officer and the gunman dead, including having most employees work from home this week and removing vehicle decals showing where they work.

In a large and hastily arranged Zoom call on Saturday, about 800 rattled staffers with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tried to make sense of the trauma they endured just a day earlier when a gunman opened fire on the agency’s buildings from across the street.

The CDC, which tracks outbreaks of illness in the US, played a central role during the Covid pandemic and has been heavily-criticised by vaccine sceptics. Officer Rose was a former Marine who had served in Afghanistan.