Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. FAUCI: Thank you very much, Dr. Walensky. Unfortunately, he is one of the many Americans battling long-term symptoms," Slavitt said. Its my responsibility to tell both of those stories.. The agency also dropped guidance advising that anyone who came into close contact with an infected person should get tested then re-adopted it after criticism from health experts. Redfield made appearances, but he was often a third-tier speaker after remarks dominated by Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and others. I know what its like to not be there when it happens," Biden said back in February to mark 500,000 American lives lost. So to protect communities in those circumstances at those high levels, we have recommended and continue to recommend that those communities wear masks. An error occurred. I came directly from a hospital that had a morgue sitting outside, she said in an interview. Rochelle Walensky Family | Ethnicity She was born in Peabody, Massachusetts, to her parents. Were going to have to really seriously address these myths that are floating around, and Im not even sure how to start to do that, she added. Rochelle Paula Walensky ( ne Bersoff; born April 5, 1969) is an American physician-scientist who is the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. As we say in the advisory: If you are not sure, dont share. I was like, 'No, no, it's the opposite. And as Dr. Walensky and Dr. Fauci have said theyve made it very clear this is a question that they are continually evaluating. Now, in the upper righthand corner, which is where we are today, you can see the recent growth in cases where the red and orange are again increasing. She is the daughter of Carol Bersoff-Bernstein and Edward H. Bersoff. She saw many people . CHANG: I mean, why isn't the CDC more strongly recommending masking in public places right now, during this so-called tripledemic? Data since the announcement seem to have proved Dr. Walensky correct: Infections are still declining, even as much of the country reopens at a vigorous pace. got the medical and epidemiological science right, but what they did not get right was the behavioral science, the communications and working collaboratively with other stakeholders, Dr. Gounder said. director, is working to restore trust in what once was the worlds premier public health agency.CreditKayana Szymczak for The New York Times. She earned an MPH in clinical effectiveness from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2001 after participating in the Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Womens Hospital Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program. Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe, via Getty Images. After Rochelle was nominated to the position of director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention he took to Twitter to congratulate her. It reads: "Hard things are hard. In selecting @RWalensky, Biden has chosen one of the most respected infectious disease docs in the world. She deeply felt the weight of a half a million dead.. The most recent instance, when Dr. Walensky announced that vaccinated people could go mask-free indoors, was supported by the latest research, scientists said. Married to Loren Walensky, also a physician and scientist. She started doing more research, including studies of ways to get more patients tested and treated for AIDS, even in the poorest countries. "It was so baffling," she says. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post) The entire country was in a high level of transmission. "I have a 16-year-old myself and I can tell you he wanted to get the vaccine. Q Hi, and thanks for taking my question. DR. FAUCI: Well, what we do know in the cases that were looked at: If you are vaccinated and you get infected, and you compare that person if youre an asymptomatic infected breakthrough vaccinated case and compare that to someone who is infected but not vaccinated and asymptomatic, the level of virus in the nasal pharynx of the vaccinated person is considerably less than the virus in the nasal pharynx of a person who is infected, unvaccinated, and asymptomatic. Based on that, you could make a reasonable assumption that the rate of transmissibility from the asymptomatic vaccinated person to an uninfected person would be less likely than if the person was unvaccinated. Already, she's fielded blowback for the new CDC guidance on when and how schools should reopen, and she's openly worried about new, more transmissible variants spreading nationwide. But that enthusiasm has been tempered by occasional missteps in communications, an aspect of the job that is more important and challenging than it has ever been. I was hoping you could talk about the objective metrics that youre looking to present to the President for when some of these travel restrictions can be eased. It wasnt until lunchtime, when everyone took out a yogurt, a root beer and a little bag of pretzels, her standard lunch, that she noticed. And that has had a detrimental effect on the agencys ability to fulfill its mission, said Dr. Richard Besser, a former CDC official who now heads the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In 2013 she became a physician at the infectious disease unit and in 2017 she became the chief of division of infectious disease. Next question. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks at a coronavirus briefing in December 2020. I want to make sure every family knows this. "I think they've been muzzled that science hasn't been heard. Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team. You can read the full advisory at SurgeonGeneral.gov/HealthMisinformation.Thanks for your time. Thank you, Zeke. We are dealing with highly effective vaccines. Around the country, we're seeing now decreases in rates of RSV, fortunately, in the South, South Central, even in the Northeast, in the Mid-Atlantic region. You don't need to wait for CDC's recommendation, certainly, to wear a mask. The video, plus another video Walensky appears in, are part of an effort to help educate hospital employees about the coronavirus vaccines, according to Dr. Paul Biddinger, director of emergency preparedness for Mass General Brigham. Rochelle is the daughter of Carol and Edward H. Bersoff, a chief executive. "And it was like a switch went off," he says, "and she just had this natural gift for this style of testing whether if you did X, would Y happen, and if you did X with a little more money, then how would that affect Y? Despite a grueling workload of patient care and research, Dr. Walensky made it to her sons piano concerts, karate tournaments and half marathons, according to her husband. It allowed people who intentionally spread misinformation what we call disinformation to have extraordinary reach.In this advisory, were telling technology companies that we expect more. And its great to be with all of you again today. Importantly, these painful experiences and the impact of COVID-19 are felt, most . You feel healthy, you know people who have had COVID and are doing all right. I guarantee it.. Please enable JavaScript to use this feature. For her birthday a few years ago, her team at the hospital came to work dressed like her wearing black, or white, or black-and-white, Dr. Freedberg said. Dr. Walensky also has her eye trained on racial equity in health care within the ranks of C.D.C. He works at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where he joined in 2003 as an attending physician in pediatric hematology/oncology and in 2006 he founded his cancer chemical biology research laboratory. But through it all, as the long months became a year, Walensky had been out front, Stephenson says, sticking to the science and telling the truth. And our biggest concern is that we are going to continue to see preventable cases, hospitalizations, and, sadly, deaths among the unvaccinated.Lastly, I want to reiterate the importance of getting fully vaccinated. He works at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where he joined in 2003 as an attending physician in pediatric hematology/oncology and in 2006 he founded his cancer chemical biology research laboratory. Although Israel has the same issue with the dominance of the Delta strain, their hospitalizations have dramatically diminished. WALENSKY: So we have been recommending masking, as I said, in areas with high COVID-19 community levels. On December 7, 2020 President-elect Joe Biden nominated Dr. Rochelle Walensky as the new director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well.You can see the patterns of local outbreaks in the slide of community transmission. She earned her MD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Our seven-day average is about 26,300 cases per day, and this represents an increase of nearly 70 percent from the prior seven-day average.The seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 2,790 per day an increase of about 36 percent from the previous seven-day period. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Copyright 2021, Pinoria.com. Opt in to send and receive text messages from President Biden. Transition 2021. It was the mid-'90s, and the AIDS epidemic was still raging. The truth is that, across our nation, the voices of doctors, nurses, scientists, and public health experts are too often being drowned out by the false sirens of misinformation. CHANG: I will. CHANG: CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, thank you very much for joining us again. In January, shown in the middle of the slide, we were averaging nearly 200,000 cases per day. Independent and rigorous scientific CDC and FDA processes will determine if and when boosters are needed and who might need a booster shot.I want to be clear: The science will guide this. Walensky told the medical journal JAMA last month that she'll welcome straight talk from the scientists at the CDC as well. Back in April, when a huge surge of COVID-19 cases hit, she didn't deny the pain. You know, as we have said, this is very heterogeneous across the country and these decisions have to be made at the local level. The camp guidance is intended to get our kids to camp and allow them to stay there," she continued. NEW YORK (AP) As the coronavirus swept across the globe last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sank into the shadows, undermined by some of its own mistakes and stifled by an administration bent on downplaying the nations suffering. ZIENTS: Dr. Walensky, do you want to take the second question? When we look over time, we can put these increasing cases in perspective. The vaccines work. Get to know Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Biden's CDC director pick. In an interview last month, Dr. Schuchat said she had come to admire and like Dr. Walensky: This is a really tough leadership job, and I think shes absolutely the right person for it.. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh). (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who has been selected to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, to announce President-elect Joe Biden's his health care team. Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, is the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The podcasts host, Dr. Howard Bauchner, who is also editor of the journal, praised her effusively. Younger unvaccinated people weve spoken to believe they will likely be fine if they get infected with coronavirus. When asked why CDC posted new guidance telling fully vaccinated individuals they can go without masks before updating guidance for schools, businesses, and travel, Walensky said they're working diligently on it. I think governments can play an important role here, but this has got to be an all of the above strategy with everybody in. But its also going to take each one of us, you know, as Americans across this country, looking to our family and our friends and asking them if they are vaccinated.You know, this vaccination campaign is going to move, in part, driven by trusted relationships. Tens of millions have been infected. President Joe Biden and members of his COVID task force are using personal stories to persuade young people get vaccinated following up on the Food and Drug Administration authorizing the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 earlier this month. She later became an assistant professor before being promoted to associate professor in 2007. I literally cried the night that I found out that Rochelle was going to be C.D.C. Dr. Anne Schuchat, the deputy director, and Dr. Nancy Messonnier, who led the agencys infectious disease center have led to speculation about continuing unrest within the agency. Surgeon General Advisories are reserved for urgent public health threats. Because we have fully vaccinated more than 160 million Americans, weve fundamentally changed the course of this pandemic from one that puts the lives and livelihoods of all Americans at risk, to one that predominantly threatens unvaccinated people.As Dr. Walensky said, as the more transmissible Delta variant continues to spread across the country, we will likely continue and experi- continue to experience an increase in COVID cases in the weeks ahead, with these cases concentrated in communities with lower vaccination rates. Walensky brought a plaque from her desk in Boston to CDC headquarters in Atlanta. I think people have had some more time to read about and think about the vaccine, he said. Why isn't the CDC putting out more forceful messaging about protecting older people from COVID this season? Those counties most frequently correspond to counties with low vaccination rates. Walensky took part in the video a few weeks before President-elect Joe Biden appointed her on December 7 to be his CDC chief when he takes office, and shes made few public comments since then, and declined to comment for this story. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. With that, I will now turn it over to Dr. Fauci.DR. Wife of Private Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Beyond unmuzzling her agency's staff, she vows to tackle many other challenges, pushing particularly hard on the vaccine rollout and rebuilding the public health system. Discovery Company. And so why its so important for yourself, your family, and your community to get vaccinated. Why a Covid-19 vaccine doesn't mean that you can stop wearing a mask. Dr. Walensky joined the faculty of Harvard University in 2001, where she worked on health policy for infectious diseases, particularly H.I.V. " she recalls. In interviews, several said the morale had drastically improved. In the same hearing, while acknowledging some parents may not want to be first in line, Walensky she would encourage all parents to get their children vaccinated and encourage children to ask their parents for the vaccine. Rochelle Walensky is the daughter of Edward Bersoff and Carol Bersoff-Bernstein. But the actual studies to do whether or not the transmission occurs is a large study thats ongoing right now. Biden unveils health team that will lead pandemic response. FAUCI: Well, with regard to the breakthrough infections that were seeing: So, certainly, we are seeing them, but you got to remember what the denominator of the vaccinated people are. We'll open the windows for people, increase ventilation if we can. Dr. Redfield did not respond, and later in the year the agency suspended diversity training programs following an executive order from the Trump administration. Therell be a lesson learned here.. But C.D.C. 2. You can just look at her and just by her presence know that she is both competent and dedicated, said Schaffner, a liaison representative on the CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. She was starting to broaden her focus from patient care to bigger-picture questions about the increased equity in health care that more funding and optimal treatment choices could bring. Pick Up The Best Face Serums For Oily Skin. appreciated. The Walenskys decided early on that they would not work evenings or weekends, would be home for dinner every day, and take laptop-free vacations whenever their children were off school. Weve seen a lot of enthusiasm. MR. ZIENTS: Thank you, Dr. Walensky.Next question. The nurses survey was done in the first half of October, before data came out from Pfizer and Modernas large-scale clinical trials showing that the vaccines had no serious safety concerns and were 95% effective. Welcome back to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. and made similar arguments about the pricing of Gileads Covid drug remdesivir. Last summer, after protests over the death of George Floyd, more than 1,200 C.D.C. This is a working mom whos always been working her tail off, her husband said. Statement from Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ive heard some commentary though, suggesting that among immunosuppressed people and the elderly, they might be needed. So, while we are in a far better position than we were in January through April, this increased in red area is giving us all a reason to double-down and get more people vaccinated.The good news is that if you are fully vaccinated, you are protected against severe COVID, hospitalization, and death, and are even protected against the known variants including the Delta variant circulating in the country.If you are not vaccinated, you remain at risk. She has been Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since January 20, 2021. And as Dr. Walensky and Dr. Fauci are making clear, this is a question that they are continually evaluating. Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt speaks during a COVID-19 Response briefing, May 18, 2021. A dramatic diminution in hospitalizations. She will replace Dr. Robert Redfield, who assumed the role in March 2018. And while those threats have often been related to what we eat, drink, and smoke, today we live in a world where misinformation poses an urgent and insidious threat to our nations health. Then, Dr. Fauci will present the data from other countries facing the Delta variant. All Rights Reserved. Rochelle Walensky was born to a father called Edward Bersoff and a mother identified as Carol Bersoff-Bernstein. director in happiness, in joy, said James Krellenstein, executive director of the advocacy group PrEP4All Collaboration. Dr. Rochelle is a member of Boston COVID-19 Advisory Board. Meet the Team And when we get enough information to make that decision, then that decision will be forthcoming. And across this country people are suffering. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who has been selected to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, Dec. 8 . Dr. William Schaffner, a longtime adviser to the CDC on vaccines, said Walensky, a practicing infectious disease specialist, is well positioned to encourage health care professionals to take the shot. Last week, Biden said he would ask for $160 billion for vaccinations and other public health programs, including an effort to expand the public health workforce by 100,000 jobs.