03/06/2025 at 10:00AM
Full committee hearing.
Nominee:
- Dr. Martin “Marty” Makary, Arlington, VA
During the pandemic, Makary argued against the use of masks for children and opposed widespread vaccination against COVID-19, saying shots should be targeted at healthcare workers only. He also called for restricted use in children, in light of rare but potentially serious side effects like myocarditis that seemed to be more common in young boys.
He was an advocate for allowing herd immunity to be established and, in an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal in 2022, said public health officials ruined lives by insisting that workers with natural immunity to COVID-19 be fired from their employment if they weren’t fully vaccinated, calling for them to be reinstated with an apology.
Makary, who lives in Baltimore, has served as an adviser to Washington conservative healthcare think tank Paragon Health Institute.
Makary uses false and inflammatory rhetoric about abortion.
Makary is the chief medical officer for the telehealth company Sesame, which provides compounded weight loss drugs, and he also serves on the board of directors for the ophthalmology company Harrow.