Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is leaving the public health agency at the end of next month. Walensky assumed office on the day President Joe Biden was inaugurated and has played a central role in the administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the continued nationwide rollout of vaccines and a controversial requirement that federal workers receive the inoculation.
Walensky has previously served as chief of the infectious diseases division at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School. In a statement, Walensky said that the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency marks a “tremendous transition for our country, for public health, and in my tenure as CDC Director.” Biden lauded her work at the public health agency in his own statement, saying “As Director of the CDC, she led a complex organization on the frontlines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity. We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her the best in her next chapter.”
Beyond the federal vaccine mandate, which was officially nixed earlier this week, the Biden administration attempted to impose vaccine requirements on private employers through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. However, the Supreme Court overturned this emergency order last year after The Daily Wire filed a federal lawsuit. Walensky also garnered controversy for providing teachers union officials with “unprecedented access” to view and shape COVID response guidelines. This privilege was leveraged by the unions to implement a “trigger” provision that would cause schools to automatically close should COVID test positivity rates reach certain thresholds.
Walensky admitted last year that the CDC made mistakes in its COVID response and called for a “reset” that would include staffing changes and faster data releases. She also called for the creation of a “new office to promote equity in healthcare” and develop a “more nimble workforce that can quickly respond to public health crises.” Critics of the federal response to COVID have argued that inconsistent guidance from senior officials has eroded trust in the government’s public health agencies.
