Walensky announces she will step down

In a letter to President Joe Biden, Walensky said she has "mixed feelings" about deciding to step down. And while she did not explain exactly why she was resigning, she noted the transitional period the United States is in with the end of the COVID-19 emergency declarations.

"I have never been prouder of anything I have done in my professional career," Walensky said in the letter. "My tenure at CDC will remain forever the most cherished time I have spent doing hard, necessary, and impactful work."

In an email to CDC staff, Walensky said she took on the role of CDC director "with the goal of leaving behind the dark days of the pandemic and moving the CDC — and public health — into a much better and more trusted place."

In her email, Walensky wrote that during her tenure, CDC administered more than 670 million COVID-19 vaccine doses and provided guidance on COVID-19 immunization, social distancing, and masking that "protected the country and the world from the greatest infectious disease threat we have seen in over 100 years."

Reaction

In a statement from the White House, President Biden praised Walensky's "steadfast and unwavering focus on the health of every American."

"As Director of the CDC, she led a complex organization on the front lines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity," he said. "She marshaled our finest scientists and public health experts to turn the tide on the urgent crises we've faced. Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans."

White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients also praised Walensky's performance as CDC director. "Her creativity, skill and expertise, and pure grit were essential to our effective response and an historic recovery that made life better for Americans across the country," he said.

Lawrence Gostin, a health law and policy specialist at Georgetown University, said one of Walensky's greatest accomplishments during her tenure was the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

However, CDC also drew  criticism  from health experts during Walensky's tenure for some of its public guidance and communication, including its decision to shorten recommended isolation periods for people with COVID-19 amid an omicron wave.

There were "a lot of confusing messages coming out of the CDC" while Walensky was in charge, Gostin said. However, he praised Walensky's advocacy for better data collection and surveillance.

"She fought the good fight," Gostin said. "I want to applaud her service to the country under very difficult circumstances."

"While I vehemently disagreed with some of the CDC policies and data inadequacy along the way, I have very high regard for her abilities and indefatigable work to support the health of Americans in this prolonged crisis," said Eric Topol, EVP at Scripps Research. "It's a thankless job that would naturally be mired in controversy, and we should recognize she did her best despite many inherent obstacles."

According to Anne Sosin, who studies health equity at Dartmouth, Walensky sometimes took the fall for decisions made by the Biden administration, but she also could have been more transparent with the public regarding the rationale for those decisions.

Still, Sosin said, "From the outside, it has sometimes appeared that Dr. Walensky has lacked the courage to say no to decisions that really undermined public health."

Walensky walked into an "impossible job" said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

"I don't know who could have been the director of CDC at this time and been seen as a good steward of public health," he said. "If they put you as a driver going down the side of the mountain and you realize halfway you don't have brakes, good luck. I don't care how good a driver you are."

Andy Slavitt, an adviser to the White House on COVID-19 in 2021, praised Walensky's efforts doing a job "that's easy to criticize and tough to do."

"You show up in an emergency status with a specific job to do," Slavitt said. "It's almost like a mission, with a beginning and end. Even though she was running an agency, running an agency during wartime is different than running an agency during peacetime." (Watson, Nature, 5/5; Mandavilli/Weiland, New York Times, 5/5; Stobbe, Associated Press, 5/5; Chappell, NPR, 5/5; Kimball, CNBC, 5/5; Mahr/Cancryn, Politico, 5/5; Sun/Diamond, Washington Post, 5/5)