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| AP |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky has finally admitted what has been obvious to most observers for 2½ years: The agency has been “responsible for some pretty dramatic, pretty public mistakes, from testing to data to communications.”
Walensky reached this eureka moment after commissioning in April a review of the agency’s COVID-19 performance. She promises to work toward developing a more nimble agency “that emphasizes accountability, collaboration, communication and timeliness.” These are laudable goals the CDC is, unfortunately, unlikely to meet.
The basic problem is mission creep. The CDC was founded in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center with a $10 million budget and fewer than 400 employees. Its mission was to prevent the spread of malaria, but the agency’s responsibilities soon extended to other communicable diseases.
Since those early days, the CDC has grown into a huge agency — with a $15 billion budget and more than 15,000 employees — that has strayed far from its origins to address far-flung and fashionable concerns such as environmental justice and “health equity.”
The CDC’s priorities now include addressing “the public health consequences of the climate crisis,” “reducing racial disparities in public health,” addressing “the social determinants of health, conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play” and “increases in injury and violence prevention programs that will help to address the growing crisis of domestic, sexual, and gun violence. --->READ MORE HERE
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| Brynn Anderson / Associated Press |
Good evening. I’m Karen Kaplan, and it’s Tuesday, Aug. 23. Here’s the latest on what’s happening with the coronavirus in California and beyond.
Perhaps there have been points during the pandemic when you’ve felt let down by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Maybe it was back in the early days of the outbreak when the CDC used a faulty reagent in its initial batch of coronavirus test kits, leaving the country in the dark about how widely the virus had spread.
Maybe it was when the agency did a 180 on face masks, suddenly recommending them after insisting for weeks they were only necessary in healthcare settings.
Maybe it was when the CDC finally acknowledged that the coronavirus spreads mainly through the air but declined to pair that update with any new guidance on how to stay safe.
Or maybe it was when you learned that being “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19 didn’t necessarily mean you were “up to date” with your shots.
Sadly, there are many options to choose from. And they’re not limited to COVID-19 — the early response to the monkeypox outbreak hasn’t exactly vindicated the agency. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
DeSantis calls Fauci ‘little elf’ that should be thrown ‘across the Potomac’
‘F–k you, Dr. Fauci!’: Megyn Kelly tears into retiring doc over subpoena
USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates
WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates
YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates
NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest
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