CDC Director Outlines Restructuring Plans After Agency’s Covid-19 Response Fell Short

Rochelle Walensky says she will improve the agency’s communication, timeliness and accountability

By Brianna Abbott of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The review found that the CDC often takes too long to publish data people needed to make decisions and that the agency should be more transparent about what it does and doesn’t know, the official said. The agency needs to better translate science into practical and relatable policy, the review found.

“Scientific challenges and the lack of regular, clear communications and consistent methods for sharing information impacted our ability to consistently meet the evolving public health threat,” Dr. Walensky said in an email to CDC staff." 

"“There needs to be increasing recognition that you have to provide people with credible guidance, even before the best studies have been completed,” said Richard Besser, chief executive officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former acting CDC director, who said he was interviewed as part of the review. “The credibility piece really comes down to how you communicate.”"