Authored by Sandro Galea, Lawrence O. Gostin, Alan B. Cohen, and Nicole Lurie.
The arrival of the first COVID-19 vaccines and of new Presidential leadership mark important turning points in the pandemic. President-elect Biden announced Rochelle Walensky, an infectious disease expert, as his nominee for CDC director, and policymakers are turning their attention to revitalizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the nation’s public health system at the state/tribal/local level. While a comprehensive blueprint for public health reform will take time, we outline eight key operational steps to revitalize the CDC. CDC’s renewal is imperative after a suboptimal performance during the pandemic, while also being politically undermined by the Trump administration.
Read the full article on Milbank Quarterly.