CDC Director under criticism for COVID response, announces plans to revamp itself

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky announced plans Monday to revamp the agency.

The announcement comes amid heavy criticism for its performance leading the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying, “it is time to step back and strategically position CDC to support the future of public health.”

In an agency-wide email sent shortly after 1 p.m., after the leadership team was briefed, Walensky said she has hired a senior federal health official outside of the Atlanta-based agency to conduct a one-month review to “kick off an evaluation of CDC’s structure, systems, and processes.”

“Over the past year, I have heard from many of you that you would like to see CDC build on its rich history and modernize for the world around us,” Walensky wrote. “I am grateful for your efforts to lean into the hard work of transforming CDC for the better. I look forward to our collective efforts to position CDC, and the public health community, for greatest success in the future.”

A copy of the email was shared with The Washington Post. Walensky acknowledged the criticism received about inconsistent advice on issues such as self-isolation and mask wearing.

“Never in its 75-year history has CDC had to make decisions so quickly, based on often limited, real-time, and evolving science,” she said in a statement. ” . . . As we’ve challenged our state and local partners, we know that now is the time for CDC to integrate the lessons learned into a strategy for the future.”