New CDC director pledges to speed vaccination, restore trust in agency

New CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, is ready to tackle America’s COVID-19 crisis, even as a highly contagious mutation of the virus looms over the nation. One of her top priorities, she said in an interview, is to dispel public skepticism over the vaccines. Not only is it important to reinforce the need for protective masks and other precautions, Walensky says CDC must get through to Americans who are declining the vaccine. “Right now is the time to do that outreach, to do that education, to understand why it is they may not want it and what it is that they need to understand in order to want it,” the physician and researcher says. Walensky, who comes to CDC from Massachusetts General Hospital, where she served as chief of infectious diseases, is also challenged to help states improve their vaccination programs and to restore flagging trust in the agency following political interference under the Trump administration. CDC will hold regular press briefings, release current data, and announce changes in guidance, she notes. Walensky also will try to bolster U.S. public health departments and modernize CDC’s outdated data systems.