It has been more than two years since the world seemed to shut down as the COVID-19 virus spread rapidly. Not just in America, but many countries reacted quickly with lockdowns, mandates, and restrictions supposed to keep citizens safe and potentially end the pandemic. But as the three-year mark approaches, the original virus continues to infect people while other variants also make their way through countries. Now, with Dr. Anthony Fauci announcing his retirement, it seems that the CDC is looking to do a complete overhaul to hopefully improve their response time and overall operation. Again, this comes after years of restrictions and mandates that did more harm than good. 

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Speaking with Amna Nawaz on PBS NewsHour, the director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, explained some of the new changes that will take place in the coming months. The director also focused on how she came into the CDC halfway through the pandemic, inheriting many of the organization’s problems. “You know, I came into this agency about halfway through the pandemic. And that was something that I inherited and something that we need to continue to work towards. There has been politicizing of the CDC. Among the challenges that I inherited some challenges early on some challenges that I, too, have to own. But what I will say is, one of the things that we have to do is work on our communications.”

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As can be seen in the video above, Dr. Rochelle Walensky insisted, “We need to distill the science that we’re learning to the American people, so it’s actionable, and it’s implementable, it’s understandable and accessible. The other thing that has been really challenging through this pandemic is that the science has changed. That which was true for the original variant for the Alpha variant was not true for the Delta variant and the Omicron variant. And so we have had to shift, and we have had to update our guidance in the context, not just of evolving science that’s new, but also in an evolving variant that has changed.”

Although hoping to change the CDC’s operation, both Nawaz and Dr. Walensky admitted that the country was still in a pandemic. “You know, I certainly don’t want to get ahead of any FDA action. What I will say is, right now, we have people who are not yet fully up to date on their vaccines. They haven’t received a booster. And we do know that we continue to see 300, 350 to 400 new deaths every single day and that, for the most part, as we look into those, those folks are people who are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated.”

Following the same narrative, the director harped on the importance of getting the COVID-19 jab and suggested both adults and children take the plunge in hopes of keeping them safe.