Rochelle Walensky, who was appointed to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks after US President-elect Joe Biden announced his team in charge of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic at The Queen in Wilmington, Delaware , on December 8, 2020.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who were marginalized by the Trump administration during the Covid-19 pandemic “will be heard again,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to lead the agency, said Tuesday.
Last year, the CDC went months without addressing the US public after Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned in February that schools and businesses may have to close to contain the coronavirus.
“We are asking the American public to work with us to prepare for the expectation that this could be bad,” said Messonnier in prescient comments that left the markets staggering and reportedly angered President Donald Trump.
During the pandemic, Trump continued to clash with the country’s top scientists, including the current director of the CDC, Dr. Robert Redfield, publicly contradicting him on issues like the Covid-19 vaccine schedule.
Walensky promised to restore the public voice of the CDC and its scientists.
“They were diminished. I think they were gagged. That science was not heard,” she told The Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Howard Bauchner, on Tuesday. “This world-class top-tier agency has not really been appreciated in the last four years and very much in the last year, so I have to fix it.”
Walensky said he plans to renew the CDC’s communication efforts under the Biden administration. This could include regular briefings led by Walensky or subject matter experts to explain the scientific research published in the CDC’s Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report, she said. She added that it will probably also mean a more coordinated plan to engage the public on social media.
“Science is now broadcast via Twitter. Science is broadcast on social media, in podcasts and in many different ways, and I think this is critical,” said Walensky. “We need to have a social media plan for the agency.”
She said that strengthening the agency’s presence on social media will be particularly important, as the country combats hesitation about the vaccine. Misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines is prevalent on social media, she said, adding that the agency needs to get “the right information”.
During the past year, CDC communications have often clashed with those of the White House. The agency revised guidelines on reopening churches and religious sites after Trump urged state officials to allow the reopening of religious temples. And over the summer, Trump installed a longtime ally and former campaign officer Michael Caputo as the main spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the parent department of the CDC, in an effort to better align messages with the House White.
Caputo and his team tried to undermine CDC scientists by pressing them to review scientific research that would go against the guidance pushed by the White House, show internal e-mails obtained by House legislators. Walensky said on Tuesday that he will ensure that the CDC communicates transparently with the American people, regardless of political consequences.
“I have to fix this right away,” she said.