CDC head talks screwups, 4th doses, omicron’s wave in long-awaited briefing

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters stands in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, March 14, 2020.

Enlarge / The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) headquarters stands in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, March 14, 2020. (credit score: Getty | Bloomberg)

The US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention on Friday held its first COVID-19 press briefing in over a yr. The briefing coated a variety of pandemic-related subjects, from the rise in pediatric COVID-19 circumstances to the trajectory of the omicron wave and the company’s personal missteps in speaking with the general public.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky fielded a lot of the questions herself throughout the roughly 35-minute cellphone convention, as reporter after reporter expressed the necessity for extra briefings and thanked her for being obtainable right this moment. Walensky famous that she had been in over 80 COVID-19 briefings held by the White Home. Nevertheless, the CDC had not given its personal briefing on its pandemic-related work since January 6, 2021.

Within the intervening yr, the CDC has skilled periodic missteps and has taken heavy criticism for muddled messaging round ever-evolving pandemic steering. The most recent such episode unfolded final week after the company stated that sure people contaminated with COVID-19 might go away isolation intervals early with out having to check damaging. The company has stood by the choice, regardless of science-based criticisms and issues that the CDC’s resolution was influenced by political pursuits, specifically avoiding the issue of take a look at shortages.

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