The outgoing head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said her reasons for stepping down were complicated, driven in part by a desire to take a break from the frenetic pace of the job during a pandemic.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, in New York. – The outgoing head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday her reasons for stepping down were complicated, driven in part by a desire to take a break from the frenetic pace of the job during a pandemic.
Walensky, 54, described her time at the agency as intense, but stopped short of saying she was burned out. She said she had looked for a quiet moment to withdraw from a job that gave her a sense of pride and accomplishment but also led to criticism, protests outside her home and threats of violence. She spent the first year of the pandemic treating COVID-19 patients as an infectious disease doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital. She became CDC director in January 2021, on the first day of the Biden administration. It was near the beginning of a national COVID-19 vaccination campaign that was expected to turn the tide, but saw additional waves of illness and death as new versions of the coronavirus emerged.
Walensky's last day at CDC is June 30. She does not have a new job or other role lined up, she said, saying she wanted to spend some time with her family, living at a slower pace. But she was also cheered by other legislators, mostly Democrats, who said she helped safely reopen schools, promote lifesaving vaccinations and build up the agency’s ability to forecast new outbreaks.
Walensky said she was extremely proud of what the CDC and other public health workers had accomplished in the last couple of years, citing the 676 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine given to Americans. She also initiated a reorganization of the 12,000-employee health agency in Atlanta.
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