These and other decisions caused many to see her as a White House puppet, ready to risk the reputation of her agency by agreeing to handle the administration’s political dirty work. Similarly, Walensky acted as the face of the administration when she shut down schools to accommodate the demands of Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers.

The move was not even remotely connected to the CDC’s mission, and the Supreme Court swiftly struck it down as unconstitutional. Months ago, many believed that she was being naïve when she took the lead on the Biden administration’s effort to curry favor with renters by suspending evictions. Those who make their living inside the Beltway may wonder what game Walensky is really playing. Public apologies are not in the playbook of official Washington. Indeed, the media by and large continues to cheer on decisions by mayors, school boards, and university administrations to enforce masking requirements and nonstop vaccinations. The CDC largely removed schools, businesses, and institutions from an enforcement role on social distancing, masking, and quarantining and reduced its suggested booster frequency to once a year.Īfter promoting every CDC utterance for nearly three years, the press seemed strangely reluctant to credit the new instructions. Routine testing by employers and schools is no longer part of CDC guidance. On August 11, the CDC substantially relaxed its Covid guidance by dropping social distancing, suggesting that masking is needed only around sick people or those with an active case, and dropping the need to quarantine for unvaccinated individuals, suggesting instead a five-day period of self-imposed isolation. Why? Perhaps because they know that this initial disturbance to the pond might send ripples in their direction.Ĭonsider that, just four days before Walensky’s statement, the CDC undid much of the guidance it had spent more than two years inventing, justifying, and enforcing. But so far, the establishment and press are treading carefully. After such a bombshell, one would expect appearances on television and plentiful commentary. Her confession puzzled Washington’s political and bureaucratic establishment, and uncritical national media has mostly ignored her statement. Walensky said that the mea culpa was prompted by preliminary findings of an internal panel she appointed in April to improve CDC management.

“For 75 years,” Walensky told a press gathering on August 15, “CDC and public health have been preparing for Covid-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations.” government’s most respected public agencies, made a public apology for its failures during the Covid pandemic. This advice comes to mind in trying to understand what happened last month, when Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), once one of the U.S. The indigenous wisdom of the Yukon suggests that if wolves are pursuing your sled, it’s a good idea to throw out a piece of meat to buy time.

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