Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Rochelle WalenskyRochelle Walensky CDC Director Tightrope Walking Over Pandemic Messages Sunday Show Preview: Democrats Eye Pass of Infrastructure Act; Health Experts Warn Fourth Wave of Coronavirus Overnight Health Care: CDC Says Fully Vaccinated People Can Travel Safely | Biden complains about those pretending that COVID-19 is arguing about | Will vaccine passports be the biggest campaign issue of 2022? MORE is in a delicate position as she tries to balance the optimism of increasing vaccinations with the reality that the US is still in the throes of a deadly pandemic.
Walensky started the CDC job with a reputation as a smart communicator, charged with saving the reputation of an agency that took a beating under the Trump administration.
“When I first started at CDC about two months ago, I made you a promise: I would tell you the truth, even if it wasn’t the news we wanted to hear,” Walensky recently told reporters.
Walensky’s expertise lies in HIV research, just like its predecessor Robert Redfield
Robert Redfield CDC Director Walking Tightrope Over Pandemic Reports Biologist Bret Weinstein Says COVID-19 Probably Came From a Lab, and before she was appointed to run the CDC, she was chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital.
While former colleagues say Walensky is a perfect fit for the CDC post, her skills are now being put to the test as she has been criticized for being both too negative and too hopeful.
“She’s quite an engaging and clear-cut communicator, but it’s a challenging series of messages to try and get out,” said Chris Beyrer, a professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Public health reports during a global pandemic are complicated enough, but experts say this particular moment is particularly difficult.
After weeks of decline and subsequent stagnation, the number of coronavirus infections has started to rise again in much of the country. According to the CDC, cases are up about 12 percent nationwide compared to the previous week, with an average of about 62,000 cases per day.
At the same time, nearly 100 million Americans have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Many states are expanding vaccine eligibility, in some cases to all adults, and federal health officials say there will be enough supplies by the end of May to get everyone vaccinated.
Walensky tried to highlight both aspects this week when she made an emotional appeal to the audience.
“We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential from where we are, and so much reason for hope. But right now I’m scared,” Walensky said, adding that she had a “sense of impending doom”. if people continued to ignore public health precautions.
But almost in the next breath, she talked about a “hugely encouraging” new study that showed vaccinated people were 90 percent protected from infection, meaning they pose an extremely low risk of spreading the virus.
While that may come across as mixed reports, experts say it accurately reflects not only what things are now, but also how the country has responded to the virus in the past year.
“Whiplash is a true representation of how we all experience the epidemic and the response to it. So I’d rather she be honest about that, and others be honest about it, than give people something they want … make sure that they feel better, ” said Judith Auerbach, a professor at the University of California San Francisco’s medical school.
Auerbach, who previously worked with Walensky on HIV research, praised the director’s openness, which she said was lacking in the leadership of the agency during the Trump administration.
“She’s very honest about her own emotions. That’s hard for a wet nurse to get away with,” Auerbach said. “In fact, the science that says we all still have to be must be pretty scared, because we’re in this race between the vaccines … versus the emergence of these variants, and she felt it on a visceral level, and she conveyed that in a way that I thought was very telling. “
Glen Nowak, director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication at the University of Georgia and former CDC director of media relations, said Walensky’s outspokenness helps bolster credibility.
“She has embraced the fact that credibility comes from being transparent, honest, and sincere about your fears and concerns,” Nowak said.
The CDC declined to make Walensky available for an interview, but in a statement to The Hill, a spokesman for the agency said that any communication reflects the latest science and epidemiology.
“Sometimes moments have to balance the hope that we will get out of the pandemic and the reality that we are not out yet,” the spokesman said.
“We recognize the challenge of communicating the hope and promise that vaccines offer with the reality that cases and deaths are on the rise. While we send out the critical message that people cannot and should not give up their prevention measures, we remain very optimistic about what the future of a fully vaccinated public. “
On Friday, Walensky came under criticism again for her coverage. In updated guidelines, the CDC said it is safe for people who are fully vaccinated to travel.
But Walensky took a cautionary note, saying the CDC still recommends everyone, vaccinated or not, avoid nonessential travel because the infection rate is so high.
“We know we have a huge number of cases right now,” Walensky said during a White House briefing. “I would be in favor of general travel in general. Our guidelines are silent on whether or not to recommend fully vaccinated people to travel. Our guidelines talk about the safety of travel.”
Nowak said part of what makes public health reporting so difficult is the fact that science doesn’t always act in absolute truths, and the public in general doesn’t do well with nuance.
“People often don’t want to listen to the nuance; they want advice and guidance to be stable. They get frustrated with the changes, or when it seems to be contradictory. They also get frustrated when it doesn’t fit with their daily life experiences,” ‘said Nowak.
With the tour guide, Walensky tried to spell out the balance she was trying to achieve and asked the audience for patience and understanding.
“I want to recognize today that providing guidance in the midst of a changing pandemic and its evolving science is complex,” Walensky said.
“Science shows us that a complete vaccination allows you to do more things safely, and it’s important for us to provide that guidance even in the context of increasing cases. At the same time, we need to balance science with the fact that most Americans are not yet fully vaccinated, which probably contributes to our rising cases, ”she said.
Jen Kates, director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation who has known Walensky for decades, said she thinks the CDC director is aware that she cannot escape criticism, especially when so many people have pandemic fatigue. to have.
If the CDC is too strict and refuses to condone relatively normal behavior, especially after being vaccinated, it could put people at risk of refusing to get the injection, Kates said.
But if the agency paints too rosy a picture, more people can pretend the pandemic is over and risk further spread of the virus.
“It is becoming to public officials to always be aware that their words are being listened to and taken out of context, or that it is difficult for people to grasp,” Kates said. “So I think Dr. Walensky is a great communicator, but that doesn’t mean this is always easy to do and the balance is always clear.”