Political | Process

 Walensky will hold the CDC’s first independent media briefing since the summer on Friday after abruptly deciding this week that she wanted to answer questions “head-on”.

Tweet

• Since taking office, Walensky has strived to improve internal communications and sought to cultivate a better messaging approach, officials say.

• Still, there remains dissatisfaction among administrative assistants and outside public health experts with some of the ways the CDC has communicated its decisions as the pandemic enters what officials see as a new phase.

• At the same time, between Walensky bypassing some of the CDC’s rigorous vetting processes for new guidelines and public criticism, morale at the public health agency is plummeting.

• When asked if there was a credibility problem at the CDC on Friday on NBC’s “Today”, Walensky said the agency was following the science.

• “We at the CDC are 12,000 people working 24/7 following science, with ever-changing nature, in the midst of a very rapid pandemic,” she said during the one of the many interviews before the briefing. “And we are doing it with our heads down to keep America safe.

• We will continue to update ourselves. We will continue to improve the way we communicate with the American public. It is a rapidly evolving science.”