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Receive the latest news and breaking updates, straight from our newsroom to your inbox. Contact: Media Relations. Some of its advice had been twisted by the Trump administration, and her message was clear: The C.D.C. If you look at this map of the world, theyre at about 100 countries that have now have the Delta variant that is detected in them in June of since June in 2020. The truth is that, across our nation, the voices of doctors, nurses, scientists, and public health experts are too often being drowned out by the false sirens of misinformation. I guarantee it.. Rochelle at baseline is an excellent communicator, but I think in a situation this fraught politically, operationally and how quickly the science moves youre going to make mistakes, said Dr. Celine Gounder, a former adviser to Mr. Bidens team on Covid-19. A Warner Bros. "I got called during a code," she says. Theres a lot that we are doing and well continue to do more, but this is a moment where we need technology companies to step up and do more to stop the spread of misinformation. Rochelle Walensky Religion If you do get those symptoms, call your providers early because there are tests not just for COVID-19 but also for influenza. So the news had special meaning for her and the many jubilant colleagues tweeting their joy. And Ill pass it back to Jeff. The Walenskys decided early on that they would not work evenings or weekends, would be home for dinner every day, and take laptop-free vacations whenever their children were off school. And so as we see reentry into respiratory viruses and as areas around the country are turning from green to yellow to orange, we have said - orange really does indicate that there is a lot of infection in the community, that there's a lot of severe disease coming into the hospital and that many of the beds in the hospitals are really now occupied by people with COVID-19. But the agency stumbled in February when a test for the virus sent to states proved to be flawed. 2. She deeply felt the weight of a half a million dead.. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who has been selected to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, to announce President-elect Joe Biden's his health care team. This top tier agency, world-renowned, hasn't really been appreciated over the last four years and really markedly over the last year or so. Her targets have included the uneven transmission-prevention measures that were in place last summer and a prominent Trump advisers endorsement of a herd immunity approach that would let the virus run free. So do we anticipate that they're going to have the same rates of protection as they did for the original strain? When people write about me as the selection for this position, they will say, But she has no on-the-ground public health experience,' she said during a podcast with the Journal of the American Medical Association. She joined MGH in 2000 as a graduate assistant at the medical walk-in unit. Last week, Biden said he would ask for $160 billion for vaccinations and other public health programs, including an effort to expand the public health workforce by 100,000 jobs. Under unrelenting pressure from the pandemic and the Trump administration, the atmosphere inside the agency devolved last year into ugly rivalries and turf wars, according to several staff scientists. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. "Super loud. Walensky took part in the video a few weeks before President-elect Joe Biden appointed her on December 7 to be his CDC chief when he takes office, and shes made few public comments since then, and declined to comment for this story. Fact check: Four times Walensky's comments were out of step - CNN At Massachusetts General Hospital, where Walensky was the chief of infectious diseases, some of her many admirers now have T-shirts that read "Answer the Code" with her initials, RPW, beneath. She started doing more research, including studies of ways to get more patients tested and treated for AIDS, even in the poorest countries. Dr. Gounder, who has known Dr. Walensky since 2004 and considers her a friend, said Dr. Walensky was still the best person she could think of to lead the C.D.C. Under him, the agency quietly made changes to its guidance, sometimes dictated by the Trump administration, with no public announcement. Next question.DR. Accuracy and availability may vary. We only have time for a few questions today. She is known for her role in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, in the past week, the five states with the highest case rates Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, and Nevada had a higher rate of people getting newly vaccinated compared to the national average.At the same time, our COVID-19 Surge Response Teams are working with governors and local public health officials to provide specific federal resources and capabilities to fight outbreaks due to the spread of the Delta variant.We are already helping many states to identify and address specific needs, including testing, therapeutics, and vaccinations. What Rochelle will have is instant credibility with the practicing community. WALENSKY: You know, so we have always said when we released our COVID-19 community levels back in February that things were on the downward trend, and that was really good news but that we wanted you to put your masks away, not to throw your masks out. The C.D.C. Therell be a lesson learned here.. While the agency has retained some of its top scientific talent, public health experts say, it has a long list of needs, including new protection from political influence, a comprehensive review of its missteps during the pandemic and more money to beef up basic functions like disease tracking and genetic analysis. CDC Head Rochelle Walensky Aims To Rebuild Agency With Straight Talk On The task falls to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, 51, an infectious-diseases specialist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, who is expected to become CDC director this week a time when the viruss U.S. death toll has eclipsed 400,000 and continues to accelerate. All rights reserved. Now a new CDC director is arriving to a mammoth task: reasserting the agency while the pandemic is in its deadliest phase yet and the nations largest-ever vaccination campaign is wracked by confusion and delays. You can read the full advisory at SurgeonGeneral.gov/HealthMisinformation.Thanks for your time. Maybe - I will say another really important one - and I'm going to guess you're going to get to this - is vaccination. Were going to have to really seriously address these myths that are floating around, and Im not even sure how to start to do that, she added. Is it a different sort of strategy? Its safe, its free, its readily available, and its never been more important.As we manage this virus, our whole-of-government effort continues to work to get more people vaccinated, address areas where were seeing outbreaks among the unvaccinated, and prepare for every scenario.First and foremost, we continue to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of new people each day meeting unvaccinated Americans where they are, answering their questions, helping them make up their mind, and making it even easier and more convenient to get a shot as soon as they are ready to do so.Were doing this by trus- by entrusting and empowering messengers trusted messengers to have the conversations we know work whether its vaccinated people in communities across the country talking directly to their neighbors, sharing their own vaccination journey and answering question; or its Olivia Rodrigo using her voice and platform to spread the word.Were working with doctors, pharmacists, employers, educators, and school administrators to bring vaccines to where people are.And as Dr. Murthy will discuss, were taking disinformation and misinformation head on.We continue to see efforts to deliberately mislead the American people about the importance of vaccination. She will work tirelessly to protect & save lives. WALENSKY: So we have been recommending masking, as I said, in areas with high COVID-19 community levels. "Every year, he comes home from camp and he writes the number of days until he returns to camp the next year. Walensky's private Feb. 10, 2021, roundtable featured five participants, including Roz Keith, the founder and executive director of Stand With Trans, an organization for parents of transgender. All this has led to avoidable illnesses and deaths. Please enable JavaScript to use this feature. is a large and lumbering agency, bogged down by bureaucracy and hampered by what some experts describe as an overly cautious approach. Now, health misinformation has been a problem long before COVID. She had a warm, empathetic leadership style, said Dr. Kenneth Freedberg, an H.I.V. 'I know what its like when you are there, holding their hands, as they look in your eye and they slip away. We recommend wash your hands. "I don't think we're going to feel it then. Dr. Rochelle Walensky takes over at CDC - forward.com But many felt the agency had rushed the decision to end mask use without considering parts of the country where infections were still high, and without grasping the mistrust and culture clashes the new advice would engender. Rochelle Paula Walensky (Bersoff) - Genealogy - geni family tree His hands are cold to the touch. The ground is not nearly as stable as we thought it would be.. Rochelle Walensky Family | Ethnicity She was born in Peabody, Massachusetts, to her parents. Dr. Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky were among the witnesses testifying on ending the pandemic at a hearing held by the House Coronavirus Crisis Subcommittee. Similar. The video, plus another video Walensky appears in, are part of an effort to help educate hospital employees about the coronavirus vaccines, according to Dr. Paul Biddinger, director of emergency preparedness for Mass General Brigham. In the past, the position has generally been unfilled until a new secretary of health and human services is confirmed, and that official names a CDC director. MGH's Dr. Rochelle Walensky prepares to take over beleaguered CDC amid She acknowledged the weaknesses in her resume. Shes not a crier if anything, I get choked up much more easily than she does, he said. Payton Nguyen, 12, receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinefrom nurse Lakera Thorne at Providence Edwards Lifesciences vaccination site in Santa Ana, Calif., , May 13, 2021. Despite a grueling workload of patient care and research, Dr. Walensky made it to her sons piano concerts, karate tournaments and half marathons, according to her husband. Walensky, director of the CDC, confirmed that the vaccines largely were ineffective in preventing viral transmission from person to . Rochelle Walensky is the daughter of Edward Bersoff and Carol Bersoff-Bernstein. Misinformation robs us of our freedom to make decisions for our health based on science and facts.Addressing health misinformation is an urgent challenge, a moral and civic responsibility that we must meet together. She was starting to broaden her focus from patient care to bigger-picture questions about the increased equity in health care that more funding and optimal treatment choices could bring. And while those threats have often been related to what we eat, drink, and smoke, today we live in a world where misinformation poses an urgent and insidious threat to our nations health. She will succeed Dr. Robert Redfield, 69, who came to the CDC with a similar resume as an outsider from academia. How to Equip Yourself Before an MRI Scan? When you talk about a third shot for a two-shot vaccine regimen or another shot for the J&J single-dose regimen, youre talking about enhancing the durability of an already highly effective vaccine. And we have certainly always said that masking is a personal choice. It was that sometimes it felt like sabotage. Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser. Media Statement from CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, on Because we have fully vaccinated more than 160 million Americans, weve fundamentally changed the course of this pandemic from one that puts the lives and livelihoods of all Americans at risk, to one that predominantly threatens unvaccinated people.As Dr. Walensky said, as the more transmissible Delta variant continues to spread across the country, we will likely continue and experi- continue to experience an increase in COVID cases in the weeks ahead, with these cases concentrated in communities with lower vaccination rates. This is a working mom whos always been working her tail off, her husband said. It's a spotlight on the continued health threat posed by the pandemic. treatments. ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Q Thanks so much. Sister of Private, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochelle_Walensky. "I think they've been muzzled that science hasn't been heard. MR. ZIENTS: Well, thank you, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Walensky.Stepping back, we have come a long way in our fight against this virus. By all accounts, Dr. Rochelle Walensky is a fierce advocate and an empathetic scientist. Dr. Walensky was known as a tough-minded advocate for people with AIDS. We only have about 33% of people over the age of 65 who've gotten that bivalent vaccine this season. Clearly, the Delta variant is dominant in the world. In the same hearing, while acknowledging some parents may not want to be first in line, Walensky she would encourage all parents to get their children vaccinated and encourage children to ask their parents for the vaccine. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Its a science-based sell, and we have to stick with that, he said. Its another step toward putting this pandemic behind us.Now, let me turn to Dr. Murthy. ZIENTS: Dr. Walensky, do you want to take the second question? Rochelle is a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Georgetowns Westmoreland called for a law or other measure to prohibit political appointees from having editorial review of CDC science and to ban them from controlling when the agency releases information. Media Statement. Its another life protected. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the C.D.C. And if you look at the far right of the slide, as of just a couple of days ago, they are very low. Much of that has to do with cycles of funding for the national public health system that rise in reaction to a crisis and then fall, hurting efforts to prevent the next crisis. Walensky has also shared her familys personal plight with the virus in urging more Americans to get the shot. Like, will you be personally masking up at the supermarket or just avoiding large gatherings in general? Dr. Walensky, right, with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Biden administrations pandemic adviser, left, and Dr. David Kessler of Operation Warp Speed, at a House subcommittee meeting in April. CDC Director Walensky's Covid-19 Rebound Raises Questions About 5 Day ZIENTS: Oh, go ahead, Dr. Walensky. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky has come under criticism for the confusing messaging. And we really want people to gather. "A vaccine may feel unnecessary. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much But if we just let the virus run free without mitigation strategies, such as masking, our hospitals will overflow and that would mean we would no longer be able to take care of the populations health across the board. I think governments can play an important role here, but this has got to be an all of the above strategy with everybody in. It was the mid-'90s, and the AIDS epidemic was still raging. The Race : TV NEWS : Search Captions. Borrow Broadcasts : TV Archive Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. In early December, Dr. Katy Stephenson was watching TV with her family and scrolling through Twitter when she saw a tweet that made her shout. She has weighed in often and publicly about coronavirus policy and medicine, speaking to journalists with a natural candor that's contrasted with the stiffer style of some federal officials. The CDC also lost its standing as the nations go-to source for case counts and other measures of the epidemic after university researchers and others developed better systems for tracking infections. Next question. CHANG: Well, turning to RSV, what do you see happening with those infections? Showing Editorial results for rochelle walensky. Loren Walensky (@LorenWalensky) December 7, 2020. Loren Walensky recalls coming home one day to find her sitting at the kitchen table working on extremely complex math. Around the country, we're seeing now decreases in rates of RSV, fortunately, in the South, South Central, even in the Northeast, in the Mid-Atlantic region. At the same time, as Dr. Fauci said, because we have so many people fully vaccinated, including about 80 percent of seniors those who are most vulnerable, those over 65 years of age we will likely see smaller increases in hospitalizations, similar to the Israel and UK experience. Q Hi, and thanks for taking my question. (404) 639-3286. Walensky serves as the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a practicing Infectious Disease physician both at MGH and at Brigham and Womens Hospital. Technology companies have enabled misinformation to poison our information environment with little accountability to their users. In the last week, 10 percent of counties have moved into high transmission risk, in the red, and 7 percent of counties have moved into substantial risk, in the orange. Although Israel has the same issue with the dominance of the Delta strain, their hospitalizations have dramatically diminished. I know thats a hard sell, but I think its a smart sell. "It wasn't even just that we didn't know what the government was doing. And in November, she offered a sobering reality check from the front lines about current COVID-19 medical treatments: "When I think about the armamentarium of true drugs that we have that benefit people with this disease, it's pretty sparse," she said. But through it all, as the long months became a year, Walensky had been out front, Stephenson says, sticking to the science and telling the truth. For instance, the agency removed guidance that advised limiting church choir activities even though studies had demonstrated the danger of transmission of extended singing indoors. The shirts are part of an outpouring of affection in Boston biomedical circles and far beyond that greeted Walensky's appointment including a flood of floral bouquets that her husband and three sons helped answer the door to accept after word of her new job got out. Dr. Walensky spoke during an introduction of President Bidens health nominees and appointments in Wilmington, Del., in December. Neither he nor his parents -- my wife and I -- are sure how long this will last," Slavitt continued, speaking of the younger of his two sons. Data since the announcement seem to have proved Dr. Walensky correct: Infections are still declining, even as much of the country reopens at a vigorous pace. CHANG: CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, thank you very much for joining us again. If and when. If you have areas of low vaccination and high case rates, then I would say local policymakers might consider whether masking at that point would be something that would be helpful for their community until they scale up their vaccination rates because more people than not in the community are unvaccinated.SURGEON GENERAL MURTHY: And, Jeff, can I just add MR. Susan Walsh/AP You know, this strategy as we think, going forward, about how to get the rest of the country vaccinated has got to involve everyone. Over the next few months, Bernstein spent hours and hours in meetings with CDC officials, including agency Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, and then more time preparing presentations on education . And its great to be with all of you again today. ZIENTS: Please.SURGEON GENERAL MURTHY: on thought there? Its advice on masking, asymptomatic spread of the virus and the threat indoors was muddled. But Dr. Fauci said that he believed some small missteps were inevitable, and that Dr. Walensky was a quick study. By late 2020, reports that the Trump administration had rewritten recommendations purported to be from agency experts further damaged public trust. I have heard from my colleagues in the hospital that some of the nurses and health care workers are unwilling to be vaccinated because they have heard that its going to affect their fertility and there are some other myths that are floating around, Carol Hayes, a nurse midwife whos a liaison representative to ACIP, said at the meeting. Walensky brought a plaque from her desk in Boston to CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Those who peddle and promote these dangerous lies are harming the very people who are most at risk and furthering a pandemic that has already taken more than 600,000 American lives.We are calling on everyone social media platforms, news organizations, individual Americans to call this activity out and to help get the facts out to your friends, families, and communities so that were protecting our fellow Americans, not purposely putting them in harms way.As I said last week, vaccinating more and more Americans each day is an individual-by-individual, community-by-community effort. Whats different now is the speed and scale at which health misinformation is spreading. She saw many people die. Like the federal government was actively trying to mess things up.". Stay home when you're sick. Do we believe that they will maintain some protection against infection? She favors the John Snow Memorandum, which advocates an alternative, risk-based approach to the COVID-19 pandemic that involves Focused Protection of those most at risk and seeks to avoid or minimize the societal harm of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Based on that, you could make a reasonable assumption that the rate of transmissibility from the asymptomatic vaccinated person to an uninfected person would be less likely than if the person was unvaccinated. But this time, the Biden transition team named Walensky in advance, so she could take the agencys reins even before her boss is in place. declined to comment on how the mask recommendations were handled. 3:22 PM EST, Wed December 16, 2020, Researchers tested 14 types of masks. Every person matters. "And one of the reasons why she stood out is because she stands tall. But if you are beyond that window, I want to reiterate: There is no bad time to get your second shot.Do it for yourself, your family, and for your community. Later that week, new guidance from the agency said that vaccinated people could safely travel, but Dr. Walensky added that the agency did not actually want them to travel at all, a stance that left some Americans perplexed. Massachusetts General Hospital in April 2020. I literally cried the night that I found out that Rochelle was going to be C.D.C. (RAGS) (DJH) March 2, 2023 She ordered the hospital staff to wear masks before it became the national norm, and advised the mayor of her town and the governor on testing and prevention of Covid-19. Rochelle Paula Walensky is an American physician-scientist who is the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Sun Necklace Perfect Minimalist Jewelry at Shokoro, Plant-Based Menus You Must try when ordering ready made family meals online, Spring Vegetable Panzanella with Poached Eggs, 6 Tips To Help You Talk To Girls Successfully, Many Different Trans Dating Sites You Can Review, 5 Signs Youre Spending Too Much Time With Your Partner. Scenes from Mass General were still fresh in her mind when she arrived at the C.D.C. Pick Up The Best Face Serums For Oily Skin. Already, she's fielded blowback for the new CDC guidance on when and how schools should reopen, and she's openly worried about new, more transmissible variants spreading nationwide. Not necessarily. Id like to continue it along the lines that Dr. Walensky had mentioned, but now maybe take a look at it from a global standpoint, if I could have the first slide. Why a Covid-19 vaccine doesn't mean that you can stop wearing a mask. Rochelle Walensky now makes the laws. "She stood out," he says. The test kit problem was tied to laboratory contamination at the agencys Atlanta headquarters a sign of sloppiness. And so why its so important for yourself, your family, and your community to get vaccinated. Im encouraged by these commitments because turning the tide against health misinformation will take all of us. Dr. Murthy.SURGEON GENERAL MURTHY: Well, thanks so much, Jeff. Well continue to put public health first. "Many young people are in this situation, and many, many have it worse.". Did you encounter any technical issues? Walensky is facing a historic challenge, and leading an agency where she's never worked. You know, as we have said, this is very heterogeneous across the country and these decisions have to be made at the local level. But as weve all said: At this particular time, right now, we dont recommend that there be boosters for people.MR. "And it was like a switch went off," he says, "and she just had this natural gift for this style of testing whether if you did X, would Y happen, and if you did X with a little more money, then how would that affect Y? CDC director, under fire for confusing guidance, seeks to reshape MR. ZIENTS: So, lastly, on international travel, you know, weve made, as we talked about today, important progress on the pandemic. He said, 'What's wrong, what's wrong, is everything OK?' And we, as was mentioned in several briefings that weve had, are seeing increment in our own country to the point of now having more than 50 percent dominance and, in some areas of the country, greater than 70 percent.That is the sobering news, but take a look at whats going on worldwide with hospitalizations. But its also going to take each one of us, you know, as Americans across this country, looking to our family and our friends and asking them if they are vaccinated.You know, this vaccination campaign is going to move, in part, driven by trusted relationships. And when we get enough information to make that decision, then that decision will be forthcoming. Rochelle Walensky is an American physician-scientist. And were seeing it in the data. A highway sign in Vancouver, Wash., the day after the state lifted its mask mandate for fully vaccinated adults. ZIENTS: And, Kaitlan, on the second question, well defer to the FDA. Or is that just a must have decision by date. Dr. Anne Schuchat, the deputy director, and Dr. Nancy Messonnier, who led the agencys infectious disease center have led to speculation about continuing unrest within the agency. I want to thank everybody for joining todays briefing and look forward to next week. Rochelle Walensky (Rochelle Paula Walensky, MD, MPH) serves as Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. C.D.C. Some surveys and focus groups have shown that many health care workers are hesitant to get the vaccines. And Dr. Murthy will discuss vaccine confidence with a focus on combatting misinformation and disinformation. Its another community that is safer. He works at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where he joined in 2003 as an attending physician in pediatric hematology/oncology and in 2006 he founded his cancer chemical biology research laboratory. Both vaccines are most effective two weeks after the second dose, with each exceeding 90 percent effectiveness against severe disease, hospitalization, and death in real-world studies. In 2008 she won the Emerging Leader in HIV Research sponsored by the HIV Medical Association and the Infectious Disease Society of America. At that meeting, committee members discussed a survey of nearly 13,000 nurses, which showed that only 34% planned to voluntarily get the vaccine if their employers dont require them to get it. Thank you, Zeke. Last summer, after protests over the death of George Floyd, more than 1,200 C.D.C. Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo (Pool/Reuters) The director of . Published Born Rochelle Bersoff, Dr. Walensky grew up in Potomac, Md. MORE: 5 things to know about COVID protections as Americans head back to work