Thats something I think will be fixed on Day One, he said. Because when we did not have the large group of elderly people vaccinated, then the elderly people dominated the people who were hospitalized and got into trouble.Since we have more of a veil of protection among people because about 85 percent of people who are elderly, greater than 65 are vaccinated when you look at the relative number of people who get hospitalized, clearly, were seeing younger people, from a relative standpoint, more hospitalized than we were seeing before because of the shift of the veil of protection, which is much more dominant among the elderly.DR. The recent exits of two high-ranking agency officials within the C.D.C. Q Thanks so much. The President, yesterday, said that he was hoping for a timeline to set a timeline for lifting some travel restrictions in the next couple of days. Im encouraged by these commitments because turning the tide against health misinformation will take all of us. We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage because unvaccinated people are at risk. You know, this strategy as we think, going forward, about how to get the rest of the country vaccinated has got to involve everyone. The bottom line continues to be very, very simple: While fully vaccinated individuals have a high degree of protection against serious illness from COVID-19, including the Delta variant, unvaccinated Americans are not protected against serious illness, hospitalization, and death. The nurses survey was done in the first half of October, before data came out from Pfizer and Modernas large-scale clinical trials showing that the vaccines had no serious safety concerns and were 95% effective. She says that The Great Barrington Declaration is predicated on the idea that you know who is going to get sick and you can somehow isolate and protect them, but there is absolutely no evidence that we can do this No-one is suggesting that lockdowns should be the default position. "A vaccine may feel unnecessary. Tens of millions have been infected. If you have symptoms, go to areas with high ventilation. And across this country people are suffering. For her birthday a few years ago, her team at the hospital came to work dressed like her wearing black, or white, or black-and-white, Dr. Freedberg said. And theyll be looking at many metrics, including case rates, vaccination rates, and the prevalence of any variants, including the Delta variant.As you heard yesterday, the President said that we will be planning to update him in the next few days on the metrics and on the public health, and we must remain vigilant, particularly about the spread of variants. She met her husband, Dr. Loren Walensky, now a pediatric oncologist at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, in her first year at the university. CHANG: Well, finally, may I just ask you, what precautions is your own family going to be taking this holiday season? But I have another question before I get to vaccination. WALENSKY: And we know that that's going to be really important for CHANG: So what is being done to increase vaccination among that particular group, people who are 70 years or older? My heart and respect and gratitude to all of our health care workers who are working hard through this season, not just for respiratory viruses in children but through - across the board. Yes, we actually reported on that. And as Dr. Walensky and Dr. Fauci are making clear, this is a question that they are continually evaluating. Like the federal government was actively trying to mess things up.". The task falls to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, 51, an infectious-diseases specialist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, who is expected to become CDC director this week a time when the viruss U.S. death toll has eclipsed 400,000 and continues to accelerate. I think we're still going to have, after we vaccinate 100 million Americans, we're going to have 200 million more that we're going to need to vaccinate.". In November she co-authored a paper published in Health Affairs in November 2020 that showed the factors that can affect the efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine. Media Statement. She is the daughter-in-law of Dr. and Mrs. Norman A. Walensky. Now 51 years old, Walensky has long been a doctor on a mission first, to fight AIDS around the world, and now, to shore up the CDC and get the United States through the pandemic. Although Israel has the same issue with the dominance of the Delta strain, their hospitalizations have dramatically diminished. Next question. That black hole in your chest, you feel like youre being sucked into it. On May 12, 2021, CDC recommended use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in people aged 12 years and up based on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in adolescents following clinical trials. Dr. Fauci and Dr. Robert Redfield, Dr. Walenskys predecessor, in March 2020. "It was so baffling," she says. If you look at the average daily prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant worldwide, if you look at the righthand part of the slide, you see the extraordinary surge in the dominance of this variant worldwide. Im going to pause here, Im going to lose the script and Im going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom, she said, her eyes glistening with tears. On the left, you can see where we were just a short month ago, and compare it to where we are now, on the right. Receive the latest news and breaking updates, straight from our newsroom to your inbox. Health misinformation is false, inaccurate, or misleading information about health according to the best evidence at the time. Some of its advice had been twisted by the Trump administration, and her message was clear: The C.D.C. Walensky's private Feb. 10, 2021, roundtable featured five participants, including Roz Keith, the founder and executive director of Stand With Trans, an organization for parents of transgender. And we have certainly always said that masking is a personal choice. For instance, the agency removed guidance that advised limiting church choir activities even though studies had demonstrated the danger of transmission of extended singing indoors. The AP is solely responsible for all content. staff members. Why isn't the CDC putting out more forceful messaging about protecting older people from COVID this season? Data since the announcement seem to have proved Dr. Walensky correct: Infections are still declining, even as much of the country reopens at a vigorous pace. With that, I will now turn it over to Dr. Fauci.DR. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Dr. Walensky joined the faculty of Harvard University in 2001, where she worked on health policy for infectious diseases, particularly H.I.V. The truth is that, across our nation, the voices of doctors, nurses, scientists, and public health experts are too often being drowned out by the false sirens of misinformation. And then some more protection against hospitalization, severe disease, yes. She is recognized internationally for her work to improve HIV screening and care in South Africa. A highway sign in Vancouver, Wash., the day after the state lifted its mask mandate for fully vaccinated adults. Rochelle is married to Loren Walensky, a pediatric oncologist, cancer chemical biologist and director of the Harvard/MIT MD-PhD Program. Dr. Walensky served as Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2017-2020 and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2012-2020. Dr. Rochelle is a member of Boston COVID-19 Advisory Board. "I have a 16-year-old myself and I can tell you he wanted to get the vaccine. The camp guidance is intended to get our kids to camp and allow them to stay there," she continued. "We are experiencing incredibly sad days," she said in an interview in the spring. She will work tirelessly to protect & save lives. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Neither he nor his parents -- my wife and I -- are sure how long this will last," Slavitt continued, speaking of the younger of his two sons. Washington CNN Since the early days of her time as Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky has made comments and claims over Covid-19 guidance. So to protect communities in those circumstances at those high levels, we have recommended and continue to recommend that those communities wear masks. The speed at which she is assuming the job is unusual. COVID response adviser Andy Slavitt said his son has symptoms 6 months later. And, after weeks of declines, seven-day average daily deaths have increased by 26 percent to 211 per day.Today, Dr. Fauci and I want to provide some perspective about these numbers and how we should be thinking about where we are at this critical moment in the pandemic.There is a clear message that is coming through: This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated. So, while we are in a far better position than we were in January through April, this increased in red area is giving us all a reason to double-down and get more people vaccinated.The good news is that if you are fully vaccinated, you are protected against severe COVID, hospitalization, and death, and are even protected against the known variants including the Delta variant circulating in the country.If you are not vaccinated, you remain at risk. Each COVID-19 death is tragic. My husband looked over. And just this week, I traveled to New Mexico to meet with youth leaders, clinicians, and public health leaders from across the state. Then, Dr. Fauci will present the data from other countries facing the Delta variant. Unfortunately, he is one of the many Americans battling long-term symptoms," Slavitt said. Today, Dr. Walensky will provide an update on the state of the pandemic and the Delta variant. It might be tough for people to hear Walenskys message that masks will still be necessary well into the new year, Schaffner noted. In the mid-1990s, as a medical student and resident at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Walensky saw firsthand the impact of AIDS, which became the focus of her research. Rochelle Paula Walensky is an American physician-scientist who is the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He also recommended a review of the CDC to determine if the agencys problems can be traced to mismanagement by Trumps political appointees or whether there are deeper flaws in the organization. At the time, Dr. Walensky was the hospitals chief infectious diseases expert. and the exclusion of women from its clinical trials as unacceptable.. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the C.D.C. One of the things that gives me hope is I did not see a large exodus from CDC during this past year. "And it was like a switch went off," he says, "and she just had this natural gift for this style of testing whether if you did X, would Y happen, and if you did X with a little more money, then how would that affect Y? Under him, the agency quietly made changes to its guidance, sometimes dictated by the Trump administration, with no public announcement. Folks across the political spectrum have had reason to doubt the veracity and accuracy, sometimes, of CDCs messages, said Adriane Casalotti of the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Dr. Rochelle Walensky had just been tapped to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the agency has retained some of its top scientific talent, public health experts say, it has a long list of needs, including new protection from political influence, a comprehensive review of its missteps during the pandemic and more money to beef up basic functions like disease tracking and genetic analysis.