On December 7, 2020 President-elect Joe Biden nominated Dr. Rochelle Walensky as the new director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Im encouraged by these commitments because turning the tide against health misinformation will take all of us. Wife of Private 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has now suffered a Paxlovid rebound of Covid-19 like Anthony Fauci, MD, and U.S. President Joe Biden . Next slide shows data from the UK with the Delta variant, which the Pfizer-BioNTech, which clearly reflects what well be seeing with Moderna, is 96 percent effective against hospitalization. Similar. director, is working to restore trust in what once was the worlds premier public health agency. A highway sign in Vancouver, Wash., the day after the state lifted its mask mandate for fully vaccinated adults. They have been credited with being the brain behind her success as they gave her everything she needed to develop into the very smart and successful woman she now is. After Rochelle was nominated to the position of director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention he took to Twitter to congratulate her. "I said 'Oh, my God!' It allowed people who intentionally spread misinformation what we call disinformation to have extraordinary reach.In this advisory, were telling technology companies that we expect more. "Super loud. Dr. Walensky also has her eye trained on racial equity in health care within the ranks of C.D.C. But Barks and others who know Walensky well say she's clear-eyed and ready to dig in to meet the challenge; she'll try a new approach if first attempts fall short. She saw many people die. But, importantly, over 97 percent of people who are entering the hospital right now are unvaccinated. 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. Shes not a crier if anything, I get choked up much more easily than she does, he said. Some experts suggest that an administration that values science and increases funding could restore the CDC to preeminence. She later became an assistant professor before being promoted to associate professor in 2007. First, lets go to Carl ODonnell at Reuters. ZIENTS: Dr Fauci? Staff scientists took the lead, holding regular news conferences to update the public on the emerging problem. 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. All this has led to avoidable illnesses and deaths. However, if you look at the trend on the far righthand part of that slide, theres that uptick, which somehow was reflecting what Dr. Walensky just told you about the slight uptick that were seeing in hospitalizations in our own country. All Rights Reserved. How to Equip Yourself Before an MRI Scan? ", She also had extraordinary energy and discipline, even then, he remembers: "Most of us would roll out of bed and stumble into the lecture hall as our first activity of the day, and for Rochelle, she was already up and running and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for hours before any of us ever saw the light of day.". MR. ZIENTS: Well, thank you, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Walensky.Stepping back, we have come a long way in our fight against this virus. And flu cases are exploding. Do you agree with that guidance? Last May 11th, it was 24,000. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky about new guidelines that have the isolation period for asymptomatic people who have COVID.. The orange and red counties have substantial to high transmission. "I want our kids back in camp," Walensky said, describing how her teenage son counts down the days to his summer camp. Lets go to Zeke Miller with AP. 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. Dr. William Schaffner, a longtime adviser to the CDC on vaccines, said Walensky, a practicing infectious disease specialist, is well positioned to encourage health care professionals to take the shot. Rochelle Walensky is the daughter of Edward Bersoff and Carol Bersoff-Bernstein. These days, she spends the week in Atlanta, waking up at 5:30 a.m. and working until 11 p.m. DR. FAUCI: Well, what we do know in the cases that were looked at: If you are vaccinated and you get infected, and you compare that person if youre an asymptomatic infected breakthrough vaccinated case and compare that to someone who is infected but not vaccinated and asymptomatic, the level of virus in the nasal pharynx of the vaccinated person is considerably less than the virus in the nasal pharynx of a person who is infected, unvaccinated, and asymptomatic. In January, shown in the middle of the slide, we were averaging nearly 200,000 cases per day. "I have a 16-year-old myself and I can tell you he wanted to get the vaccine. Were asking people to raise their bar for sharing health information by checking sources before they share information to ensure its backed by credible, scientific sources. director. would no longer bend to political meddling. CHANG: I will. The job, he noted, has a steep learning curve. 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. Walensky did not respond to interview requests from The Associated Press. I'm joined today by the head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, to help us make sense of the latest virus surge and what . 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. Look, theres a lot government can do. Walensky is facing a historic challenge, and leading an agency where she's never worked. She is a past Chair of Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council at the National Institutes of Health, Chair-elect of the HIV Medical Association, and has previously served as an advisor to both the World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. Stay home when you're sick. But what should we be doing to keep everyone safe from illness? 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. I know thats a hard sell, but I think its a smart sell. Even apart from the fact that she is only the third woman to lead the agency, Im a different kind of C.D.C. And this week, at the request of the Nevada governor, we are deploying more than a hundred people to the state to help enhance vaccine access and support vaccine outreach efforts.And were providing CDCs technical expertise including on genetic sequencing, data analysis, and outbreak response to Missouri to help support the state in its response.We stand ready to support our state partners with the help they need to curb the spread of the virus and increase vaccinations in their states.And finally, we continue to be prepared for any and every scenario, including the possibility of booster shots, if and when the science shows they are needed.At this time, the CDC and FDA have said Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot. But C.D.C. Because when we did not have the large group of elderly people vaccinated, then the elderly people dominated the people who were hospitalized and got into trouble.Since we have more of a veil of protection among people because about 85 percent of people who are elderly, greater than 65 are vaccinated when you look at the relative number of people who get hospitalized, clearly, were seeing younger people, from a relative standpoint, more hospitalized than we were seeing before because of the shift of the veil of protection, which is much more dominant among the elderly.DR. But veterans in public health said such changes are expected after a leadership change and have occurred before. Does it mean that large-scale mitigation measures, if we start seeing cases going up you know, mask mandates and the like are not necessary because so many people are vaccinated? 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. Next Post: Readout of President Joe Bidens Participation in the APEC Virtual Leaders Retreat, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/07/16/press-briefing-by-white-house-covid-19-response-team-and-public-health-officials-45/?utm_source=link, Office of the United States Trade Representative, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/COVID-Press-Briefing_16July2021_for-transcript.pdf. Dr. Kenneth Freedberg was standing at his wife's bedside in a Boston hospital's intensive care unit when an . He calls Rochelle his "Wonder Woman" and still remembers when he first saw her 30 years ago, in the cafeteria of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where they were both students. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) didn't include serious adverse events like heart inflammation on post-vaccination surveys even though the agency knew the issues could be linked to COVID-19 vaccines, documents show. Americans everywhere are going to be gathering with their families and other loved ones to celebrate the holidays. Published We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage because unvaccinated people are at risk. MR. ZIENTS: So, lastly, on international travel, you know, weve made, as we talked about today, important progress on the pandemic. "And when you get called during a code, your job is to be there to help.". "I got called during a code," she says. It reads: "Hard things are hard. Next slide. The entire country was in a high level of transmission. Do we believe that they will maintain some protection against infection? And thats the thing thats being actively studied right now. And then well open it up for a few questions.Now, over to you, Dr. Walensky.DR. We'll open the windows for people, increase ventilation if we can. 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. This is a working mom whos always been working her tail off, her husband said. She earned her MD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Beyond unmuzzling her agency's staff, she vows to tackle many other challenges, pushing particularly hard on the vaccine rollout and rebuilding the public health system. I know youve said and other persons have also said that theyre not needed now. Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser. For her birthday a few years ago, her team at the hospital came to work dressed like her wearing black, or white, or black-and-white, Dr. Freedberg said. Even when it's bad news. Tens of millions have been infected. As someone who has lost 10 family members to COVID-19 and who wishes each and every day that they had had access to the vaccine, its painful to know that nearly every death we are seeing now from COVID-19 could have been prevented. Back to you, Jeff. [1] She is involved in a medical discussion on the best strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve herd immunity. Post-Workout Nutrition Advice to Make the Most of Your Sweat Session! ZIENTS: Dr. Walensky, do you want to take the second question? "I told you I'd tell you the truth," she said. And so we are hopeful that those trends will continue. I guarantee it.. And so, if youve got people in your life who trust you, who look to you for advice, then you have the power to help them get them accurate information and help get them vaccinated and protected from COVID-19. All Rights Reserved. Leading and rebuilding the CDC in the midst of a pandemic will be difficult. and made similar arguments about the pricing of Gileads Covid drug remdesivir. And communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well.You can see the patterns of local outbreaks in the slide of community transmission. Its another community that is safer. 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. WALENSKY: And maybe MR. The bottom line continues to be very, very simple: While fully vaccinated individuals have a high degree of protection against serious illness from COVID-19, including the Delta variant, unvaccinated Americans are not protected against serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Thank you. Next question.DR. The recommendation startled not just the White House but also state and local leaders, prompting criticism that she had failed to prepare Americans for the agencys latest about-face during the pandemic. Those counties most frequently correspond to counties with low vaccination rates. I am so grateful to @JoeBiden @KamalaHarris and @Transition46 for their faith in this truly remarkable woman. "She stood out," he says. Q Hi, and thanks for taking my question. COVID-19 Vaccines Don't Prevent Transmission of Virus. So the news had special meaning for her and the many jubilant colleagues tweeting their joy. 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. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks at a coronavirus briefing in December 2020. Stay up to date with everything Boston. Eventually, she became his boss. FAUCI: Thank you very much, Dr. Walensky. And then some more protection against hospitalization, severe disease, yes. "I don't think we're going to feel it then. Dr. Walensky was not on the Bidens administrations initial list of candidates for C.D.C. It was that sometimes it felt like sabotage. It wasnt until lunchtime, when everyone took out a yogurt, a root beer and a little bag of pretzels, her standard lunch, that she noticed. Rochelle is the daughter of Carol and Edward H. Bersoff, a chief executive. I came directly from a hospital that had a morgue sitting outside, she said in an interview. "You can't do everything," Freedberg says, "and even if you could, you can't do everything at once. But the actual studies to do whether or not the transmission occurs is a large study thats ongoing right now. The camp guidance is intended to get our kids to camp and allow them to stay there," she continued. I think we should be making sure people understand because the question often gets asked, particularly among the unvaccinated If youre talking about boosting people, does that mean that the vaccines dont work? Thats not the case at all. CHANG: These latest bivalent COVID boosters, I mean, how well do you think they will work given the fact that they target sub-variants that really aren't dominant anymore, right? At Vanderbilt, weve been doing Covid Vaccine 101, 102, 103, 104, said Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 3 million kids under 17 have contracted COVID-19, Slavitt said, "and even though it's rare for kids to get severely ill from COVID-19, it can happen.". 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. scientists are now routinely involved in conversations with the White House, where previously they were sidelined and silenced. So what Rochelle is particularly good at is understanding data about treatments and public health and costs, and putting those three sets of data together to understand, 'Well, what do we do? treatments. She has been selected to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Biden . How does it change the strategy going forward?MR. Its another step toward putting this pandemic behind us.Now, let me turn to Dr. Murthy. Who are Rochelle Walensky's Parents? We only have about 33% of people over the age of 65 who've gotten that bivalent vaccine this season. You don't need to wait for CDC's recommendation, certainly, to wear a mask. And, after weeks of declines, seven-day average daily deaths have increased by 26 percent to 211 per day.Today, Dr. Fauci and I want to provide some perspective about these numbers and how we should be thinking about where we are at this critical moment in the pandemic.There is a clear message that is coming through: This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Why a Covid-19 vaccine doesn't mean that you can stop wearing a mask. And thats a situation that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is going to look at next week. By all accounts, Dr. Rochelle Walensky is a fierce advocate and an empathetic scientist. Lets take a few questions. But she still eats dinners with her family on Zoom and travels to Massachusetts every weekend. C.D.C. 3:22 PM EST, Wed December 16, 2020, Researchers tested 14 types of masks. MR. ZIENTS: Dr. Fauci?DR. Opt in to send and receive text messages from President Biden. 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 please do it to protect your young children who, right now, cant get vaccinated themselves. Full Biography Director Speaker Request Meet Our Leadership Team Spotlight Jim Pirkle, MD, PhD, serves as ADLSS and OLSS Director. "They have been diminished," she said. Dr. Walensky served as Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2017-2020 and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2012-2020. The nurses survey was done in the first half of October, before data came out from Pfizer and Modernas large-scale clinical trials showing that the vaccines had no serious safety concerns and were 95% effective. CHANG: I mean, why isn't the CDC more strongly recommending masking in public places right now, during this so-called tripledemic? It's amazing. Walensky has also shared her familys personal plight with the virus in urging more Americans to get the shot. 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. Dr. Rochelle Walensky had just been tapped to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ZIENTS: Oh, go ahead, Dr. Walensky. Thats something I think will be fixed on Day One, he said. 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. 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. At Tuesday's White House briefing, senior coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt revealed that one of his sons, Zach, who is 19, has serious lingering effects from COVID-19 -- six months after he first tested positive. And then, a few years later, she saw the advent of HIV treatments that could save patients if those patients could get access to testing and care. Thats why I issued the Surgeon General Advisory. This is amazing!' 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. Now 51 years old, Walensky has long been a doctor on a mission first, to fight AIDS around the world, and now, to shore up the CDC and get the United States through the pandemic. "At one point, one of my sons said, 'You know, Dad, we should just open a florist shop at this point," says Rochelle Walensky's husband, Dr. Loren Walensky. "It wasn't even just that we didn't know what the government was doing. MORE: 5 things to know about COVID protections as Americans head back to work Slavitt said he knows it may be easy for young people to think COVID-19 doesn't affect them because they may feel healthy and be asymptotic but emphasized that experts still don't know enough about the long-term effects of the disease. The respiratory virus RSV has been surging for weeks, sending kids to emergency rooms. So, wondering if you all can paint a picture of who is actually being hospitalized by the Delta variant. WALENSKY: Good morning. She is absolutely fearless in doing what is the correct thing, with zero concern for the political ramifications for herself.. 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. And Ill pass it back to Jeff. ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. In fact, just four states accounted for more than 40 percent of all cases in the past week, with one in five of all cases occurring in Florida alone. 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. WALENSKY: Yeah. And as Dr. Walensky and Dr. Fauci are making clear, this is a question that they are continually evaluating. 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. COVID response adviser Andy Slavitt said his son has symptoms 6 months later. Last summer, after protests over the death of George Floyd, more than 1,200 C.D.C. I have to fix that.". Please.DR. DR. WALENSKY: Yeah, absolutely. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. And when we get enough information to make that decision, then that decision will be forthcoming. I want to make sure every family knows this. The C.D.C. Walensky's family has a tradition of service, including a grandfather who served in World War II and rose to be a brigadier general. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. WALENSKY: And we know that that's going to be really important for CHANG: So what is being done to increase vaccination among that particular group, people who are 70 years or older? DR. FAUCI: Yes, well, as Dr. Rochelle Walensky has said multiple times, the CDC is looking at a number of different cohorts that will get the information that will be needed as she said if and when and to whom we will be giving boosters. Its another life protected. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky has come under criticism for the confusing messaging. The science, as always, will guide us. President Biden had promised that the C.D.C. "He's young and fit and in the prime of his life. Sister of Private, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochelle_Walensky. MODERATOR: Kaitlan Collins at CNN. My kids jumped up. 1. He studies and treats children's blood cancers at Boston Children's Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. She called out the drug company Gileads pricing of its preventive therapy for H.I.V. CHANG: Well, turning to RSV, what do you see happening with those infections? And what do we do now?' Maybe - I will say another really important one - and I'm going to guess you're going to get to this - is vaccination. 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. She is known for her role in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, just curious if you can offer any additional color.MR. Not completing the series puts those partially vaccinated at risk of illness. The love of my life for 25 years and counting @RWalensky has been nominated to lead @CDCgov at this critical moment. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. I dont know if the CDC is broken or just temporarily injured, but something must be done to bring it back to health, said Timothy Westmoreland, a Georgetown University law professor focused on public health. declined to comment on how the mask recommendations were handled. But in a recent interview, she was unapologetic about the rapid shifts in C.D.C. Walensky has said one of her top priorities will be to improve the CDCs communications with the public to rebuild trust. Still, hospitals like his continue to do educational campaigns for their employees, like the videos Walensky appeared in. Each COVID-19 death is tragic. "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? And then finally and really important is that - and my family knows this. But the confusing communications rattled a few, turning optimism into uncertainty and disappointment, one senior C.D.C. How to be Extra Cautious with Your Skin during Seasonal Transitions? She joined Harvard University in 1998 as a research fellow and in 2001 she became an instructor at Harvard Medical School. So, Kaitlan, we dont have the data the clinical data but I think one can make the reasonable assumption based on the level of virus in the nasal pharynx that it would be less likely that that vaccinated breakthrough person would transmit, compared to an unvaccinated person.MR. And across this country people are suffering. "And when you get called during a code, your job is to be there to help.". Which Pigmentation Removal Cream Works Best on Dark Spots & Suntan?