CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Resigns

Breaking News: CDC Director Resigns

Dr. Rochelle Walensky Steps Down

In a letter to President Joe Biden, Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced her resignation as the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) effective at the end of June. While no specific reason was given, Walensky expressed her belief that the CDC is in a better position now than when she took office on January 20, 2021.

Walensky’s Tenure

During her tenure, the United States recorded more COVID-19 deaths than the previous year, despite the aggressive promotion of COVID-19 vaccines. However, Walensky has been a fierce advocate of vaccination, urging parents to vaccinate their children and dismissing concerns about side effects like heart inflammation. She also urged people to get multiple boosters to try to combat waning effectiveness while downplaying natural immunity.

Before becoming the CDC’s director, Walensky was chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School.

Divided Opinions

While some officials praised Walensky for her leadership, others criticized her for failing to restore trust in public health and the reputation of the CDC. Polls show that Americans’ trust in the CDC has fallen during the pandemic.

Doubling Down

Walensky and other top CDC officials have made multiple false statements on COVID-19, including exaggerating the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. Walensky made the unsupported claim in the spring of 2021 while on television that people who had received COVID-19 vaccines “do not carry the virus” and “don’t get sick,” based on “real world data” and data from clinical trials. A few months later, the CDC urged vaccinated people to wear masks because of research indicating no differences in viral load, of the amount of virus a person carries after getting infected.

What’s Next?

The position of CDC director does not require Senate confirmation, unlike similar positions such as the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Biden administration officials have not identified potential replacements as of yet. Whoever takes over will have a lot of work to do to restore trust in public health and the reputation of the CDC.