Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Wednesday admitted what many people already knew: that the CDC botched its pandemic response with often “confusing and overwhelming” guidance. While she has called for an overhaul of the department, it is not clear that Walensky or anyone else will be held responsible for these failures. President Tony Fauci’s Chief Medical Advisor will probably continue to broadcast on TV bashing Americans. Walensky, however, will still issue pronouncements on COVID/monkeypox later found to be incorrect.
On Sunday I asked, “where do I go to get my apology?”
The press won’t be held to account either despite endlessly pushing out what is sometimes called “fear porn,” while social media companies will never pay the price for cracking down on anyone who was even slightly critical of “official” pronouncements.
If you’re wondering why there will never be any accountability for those in “science” who needlessly destroyed lives during COVID to promote a political agenda, here is how the @nytimes muted the surely only 1-day story of the CDC’s admission that they failed during the pandemic. pic.twitter.com/PDbq6nH62b
— John Ziegler (@Zigmanfreud) August 18, 2022
The CDC’s mea culpa was issued Wednesday after Walensky in April ordered an outside firm to report on the agency’s recent performance. Although the review has not been released to the public, it’s clear its findings were unkind. Source: The New York Times
“To be frank, we are responsible for some pretty dramatic, pretty public mistakes, from testing to data to communications,” she [Walensky] said in a video distributed to the agency’s roughly 11,000 employees…
Dr. Walensky said the C.D.C.’s future depended on whether it could absorb the lessons of the last few years, during which much of the public lost trust in the agency’s ability to handle a pandemic that has killed more than 1 million Americans. “This is our watershed moment. We must pivot,” she said.
Which problems was the report able to find? The report found a pattern in confusing statements and an absence of clear leadership.
Public guidance from the Covid team has been often confusing even for public health specialists. The Covid team’s leaders rotate so often that senior federal officials sometimes have difficulty determining who the boss is. Sometimes, important data wasn’t available at the right time for federal decision making. This included studies of breakthrough infections which could have affected a recommendation to authorize a new round of booster shots.
The CDC has also been criticized for not listening to the “science” and being unwilling to entertain opposing views:
Here’s the problem @CDCDirector. Science that is not in line with your policies will be rejected. This precept will ensure that your institution is unable to reach consensus on truth before the general public. You can’t lead by ignoring science. @CDCMMWR @CDCgov https://t.co/I2Z3gL2mUA
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 18, 2022
The NY Post reports that an insider told the paper that Walensky said to employees, “Prior to this pandemic, our infrastructure within the agency and around the country was too frail to tackle what we confronted with COVID-19. To be frank, we are responsible for some pretty dramatic, pretty public mistakes—from testing, to data, to communications.” Notice what she didn’t say: that she was resigning and taking full responsibility for the failures.
Dr. Robert Malone, who is one of the inventors of the mRNA technology but a fierce opponent of vaccine mandates (who’s also banned on Twitter), writes in his Substack newsletter Thursday:
I think that all can see that US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (and in particular, the current Director (former Harvard Med Professor) Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH) has failed to meet expectations during two “Public health emergencies” in a row This has made her a political liability. The President Biden immediately intervened and replaced her with a competent and more skilled Director. But not so fast. The Administrative State (Senior Executive Service), had to intervene. Rather than terminating an arrogant, entitled academic for failing to lead two declared Public Health Emergency, Professor Walensky was given the bureaucratic equivalent to training wheels. However, she is expected to carry on her broadcast career with MSNBC and CNN. It seems that her future career is in the hands of Dr. Sanjay Gupta. [Emphais his.]
While it’s slightly refreshing that the CDC is finally admitting its COVID and monkeypox guidance has been a mishmash of often conflicting information and incorrect conclusions, it does nothing to undo the massive damage that their policies caused in the economic and personal lives of so many Americans. Somebody should be held accountable—but in Washington, DC, they’ll just get a raise and a promotion.