The ex-chief of the US disease prevention agency told senators Wednesday she was fired for refusing to approve changes to childhood vaccine schedules not backed by scientific evidence, as the Trump administration moves to dismantle longstanding health policy.

The high-profile testimony follows last month's abrupt ouster of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Susan Monarez, who told lawmakers on the Senate Health Committee that US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also demanded she fire career scientists from the agency without cause.

"Even under pressure I could not replace evidence with ideology, or compromise my integrity," she told the panel.

"Vaccine policy must be guided by credible data, not predetermined outcomes."

The testimony comes a day before a highly a

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