A Biden Cabinet member stepped in it trying to defend the CDC director
But on that same day, an edit in a taped ABC News interview set off another round of criticism.
On Tuesday, Walensky told a Senate health committee that “it was a pre-taped interview and much of it was cut and that phrase was taken out of context. ”
“The study was a cohort of 1.2 million people who were vaccinated and 36 people passed, demonstrating their remarkable effectiveness of our vaccines, but no less tragic is the 36 people who passed because of Covid-19 and that many of them had comorbidities,” she said.
Those moments are part of a broader problem with the CDC, particularly as it relates to the organization’s at-times confusing and seemingly contradictory about quarantine times in regards people who test positive for Covid-19.
Here’s the key bit (bolding is mine): “Rochelle Walensky is an infectious disease expert. She has a medical license and she has a degree in public health. She doesn’t have a degree in marketing. She has a degree in medicine and public health and she’s an infectious disease expert. Who do I want running CDC? Someone who knows infectious diseases, someone who understands this stuff. And so while we may have issues with some of the marketing that’s been done, I guarantee you, Dr. Walensky is someone we need at CDC.“
“Marketing”? Really?
Let’s remember what we are talking about here when we talk about the CDC: It’s the country’s main repository of knowledge and guidance about best practices to successfully mitigate the spread of a virus that has killed more than 839,000 Americans and 5.5 million people globally.
The problem then isn’t “marketing.” It’s clear communication on, literally, a matter of life and death.
Look, I get what Becerra was trying to do….
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