Dr. Rochelle Walensky will depart as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the end of June, citing the imminent end of the COVID-19 public health emergency as a “tremendous transition for our country” after two years of rolling closures, battles against variants and subsequent efforts to overhaul the agency and regain public trust.
It was also a tenure which saw the CDC dragged into partisan fights as both the Trump and Biden administrations struggled to find the right policies and messaging for a deadly new public health threat.
President Biden hailed Dr. Walensky, who has headed the agency since January 2021, as a stabilizing force for the agency in the face of a historic crisis.
“She marshaled our finest scientists and public health experts to turn the tide on the urgent crises we’ve faced,” Mr. Biden said. “Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans.”
It was not immediately clear who will take over the CDC after June 30. The position does not require Senate confirmation.
Dr. Walensky was a key face of the federal government’s pandemic response alongside Dr. Anthony Fauci. She also played a central role in combating a sudden outbreak of mpox — formerly known as monkeypox — last year and battling global health threats such as Ebola.
Dr. Walensky pointed to a key pivot point in the pandemic fight as the reason for her departure. Mr. Biden will formally end public health emergency powers around the virus on May 11.
“I took on this role, at your request, with the goal of leaving behind the dark days of the pandemic and moving CDC — and public health — forward into a much better and more trusted place,” she wrote in a resignation letter to Mr. Biden. “In the process, we saved and improved lives and protected the country and the world from the greatest infectious disease threat we have seen in over 100 years.”
The CDC estimates that some 104 million Americans were infected with the COVID-10 virus and over 1.1 million Americans have died since the pandemic began in early 2020.
Dr. Walensky also spearheaded a campaign, known as Moving Forward, to transform the CDC into a more proactive and plainspoken agency after complaints the agency was too reactive during the pandemic and often issued unclear guidance.
Lawmakers, scientists and members of the public frequently complained about outdated figures on cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, as well as changing and inconsistent guidance on masks and other public health practices during her tenure.
“Long overdue,” Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, tweeted with a story about Dr. Walensky’s departure.
The CDC said the reforms begun under Dr. Walensky will expand the number of people who respond to outbreaks, teach personnel to use clear and plain language in communicating to the public, and make it easier to find useful information on the agency’s website.
Prior to joining the CDC, Dr. Walensky was the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2017 to 2020 and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2012 to 2020.
She also worked to improve HIV screening and care in South Africa.
“While at CDC, I had the true gift of meeting, working with, and giving voice to thousands of people at the agency who work 24/7 to worry about health and public health so that the rest of the nation does not have to,” Dr. Walensky said. “I have never been prouder of anything I have done in my professional career.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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