Rochelle Walensky is stepping down as director of the CDC

Washington – President Biden said in a statement Friday that Dr. Rochelle Walensky will step down from her position as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said she will leave the agency at the end of June.

Walensky has overseen the agency responsible for much of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic since the early days of the Biden administration in 2021. End public health and emergency declarations Epidemic related, the same day who announce the end to the global health emergency of COVID-19.

“Dr. Walensky has saved lives with her unwavering focus on the health of every American,” Biden said in a statement. “As CDC Director, she has led a complex organization on the front lines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity. She mobilized our best scientists and public health experts to turn the tide on the urgent crises we faced. Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution,” And better positioned to address health threats and protect Americans. We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her well in her next chapter.”

It’s not clear what Walensky, 54, would do, or who the president might name to replace her. Walensky’s replacement would not require Senate confirmation if appointed before January 20, 2025, when A.J The last change by Congress in effect. Before becoming director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Walensky was chief of the division of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor at Harvard Medical School.

“The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency marks an enormous transition for our country, for public health, and for my tenure as CDC director,” Walensky wrote in a letter to the president released by the CDC. “I have assumed this role, at your request, with the goal of leaving the dark days of the pandemic and moving the CDC — and public health — to a better, more confident place.”

Walensky has been a strong supporter of COVID-19 vaccines and their masking, a stance that has earned her some criticism from conservatives. Later, I excluded some progressives to relax the mask and test routing.

Walensky announced last summer A jolt from the CDC, saying that he is not responding to the virus and needs to get smarter. Changes included hiring moves and efforts to speed up data releases.

“Frankly, we are responsible for some dramatic public errors, from testing, to data, to communications,” Walensky said in August 2022. As an agency, even with all the great work we do, we still suffer the consequences of these mistakes.”

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