Dallas County cancels 50 community vaccination events as DOGE cuts CDC, FDA jobs

The federal government’s decision to drastically reduce its workforce is beginning to have wide-ranging impacts in North Texas.

Mass layoffs were underway Tuesday at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), affecting critical services and staff nationwide.

The move, part of the Trump administration’s push to reduce federal spending, has already resulted in approximately 10,000 full-time job cuts. The layoffs are part of an initiative led by Elon Musk’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency aimed at streamlining federal operations.

On Tuesday morning, Dallas County Health & Human Services Director Philip Huang provided an update during a Dallas County Commissioners Court meeting.

"It was last Tuesday, early in the morning, that I received an email with a link to a message from the federal government about one of our grants," Huang said.

Huang said he received an email from the Federal government last Tuesday. Ultimately, he learned three grants would be affected by the federal cuts.

"One of those grants, we actually knew was expiring in May of this year. So, we'd spent 99% of it," Huang said.

However, two other grant cuts have already had a significant impact across Dallas County.

"Two (grants) that were from CDC going through the State Health Department to us," Huang said. "We got the notification on Tuesday evening from the State Health Department because they were still trying to interpret what was going on. But all of them said that the funding stopped the day before. "

The two grants are valued at more than $40 million and were set to expire in July of 2026.

"One of them was our ELC, which stands for Epidemiology and Lab Capacity. And then the other one was the Immunization Grant," Huang said.

He revealed that multiple staff members in their immunization program have been laid off.

"We had to let go of 11 full-time staff on Friday, and then 10 part-time staff, which is really tragic for these people," Huang said.

The layoffs, Huang said, could significantly impact local vaccine efforts in Dallas County.

“These cuts are forcing us to cancel 50 vaccine events that were scheduled for the next year," Huang said. "For the measles situation, we had contacted a lot of schools that had lower vaccination rates. They had contacted us to set up clinics to go to those schools. Well, that's some of what we're having to cancel."

The funds were also allocated to cover costs for additional lab equipment aimed to increase the capacity for rapid measles testing.

“What we’re still also trying to figure out is on some of the lab equipment,” Huang said. “Some of it we had ordered and purchased and even put down some money… We have to see if the federal government is going to accept that.”

When asked how the Dallas County HHS would respond, Huang mentioned that the backup plan involves directing residents to existing health clinics for vaccine distribution. Despite this, he said the loss of vital staff threatens to slow down efforts to prevent diseases like measles, particularly when the state grapples with a potential outbreak.

These cuts at the local level are just part of a much larger federal restructuring. The layoffs officially started on Tuesday, with agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeing significant reductions. The CDC will lose approximately 2,400 employees, while the FDA will cut 3,500 positions.

The federal job cuts are creating anxiety across the country, particularly in smaller public health departments that are already facing challenges related to ongoing health issues like measles outbreaks. Nationally, some of the hardest-hit divisions include those focused on HIV prevention, minority health, and injury prevention, including gun violence research.

According to NBC News, HHS officials have assured the public that these layoffs will not impact Medicare and Medicaid services or FDA reviews of drugs, medical devices, and foods. However, the cuts still raise serious concerns about the future of public health preparedness, especially in light of the recent global pandemic.

To mitigate the effects of the layoffs, some agencies and programs will be folded into a new entity called the “Administration for Healthy America” (AHA), which will oversee the responsibilities of various departments, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

For weeks, Huang has been vocal about the impending cuts, telling NBC 5 in a March interview that reducing resources in key areas like disease prevention, especially after a pandemic, could put public health at risk.

“We can’t forget about the continued investment in public health, so that if we have any situation like this in the future, we are totally prepared. We can't not keep funding all the support that we need to be able to maintain this preparation,” he said.

As DCHHS restructures its budget to ensure health equity and access, Dr. Huang said more federal cuts could come.

"What's happening here is not a planned-out effort (by the federal government). It's very haphazard," Huang said. "You can't replace these tens of millions of dollars. They're not available in that scale. I mean, this is what's, tragic. This is truly setting all of us back decades in terms of the public health infrastructure."

At the local level, Tarrant County has not yet received updates on how the layoffs might impact its programs, while officials in Collin and Denton counties are still waiting for information.

As this story develops, we will provide updates on how these federal cuts affect public health services in the DFW area.