Rochelle Walensky resigns as CDC director : NPR

Dr. Rochelle Walensky is leaving her submit main the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, citing progress within the battle with COVID-19.

J. Scott Applewhite/Pool / Getty Photographs

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J. Scott Applewhite/Pool / Getty Photographs

Dr. Rochelle Walensky is leaving her submit main the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, citing progress within the battle with COVID-19.

J. Scott Applewhite/Pool / Getty Photographs

Dr. Rochelle Walensky is stepping down as director of the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, citing the nation’s progress in dealing with COVID-19.

Walensky introduced the transfer on the identical day the World Well being Group declared that, for the primary time since Jan. 30, 2020, COVID-19 is not a world public well being emergency.

“I’ve by no means been prouder of something I’ve executed in my skilled profession,” Walensky wrote in a letter to President Biden. “My tenure at CDC will stay without end essentially the most cherished time I’ve spent doing arduous, crucial, and impactful work.”

Walensky, 54, will formally go away her workplace on June 30.

Biden chosen Walensky to guide the CDC solely a month after profitable the 2020 presidential election. On the time, Walensky, an infectious illness doctor, was educating at Harvard Medical College and dealing at hospitals in Boston.

In response to Walensky’s resignation, Biden credited her with saving American lives and praised her honesty and integrity.

“She marshalled our most interesting scientists and public well being specialists to show the tide on the pressing crises we have confronted,” the president stated.

The CDC did face criticism throughout her tenure for at occasions issuing complicated COVID-19 steerage, amongst different communication points.

On Thursday, the CDC reported that in 2022, COVID-19 was the fourth-leading reason for loss of life within the U.S., behind coronary heart illness, most cancers, and unintentional accidents, in line with provisional knowledge.