JUST IN: Rochelle Walensky Resigns as Head of CDC

Rochelle Walensky resigned on Friday from her post as Director of the Centers for Disease Control, effective June 30, after serving over two years in the post.

President Joe Biden issued the following statement on her exit and tenure:

Dr. Walensky has saved lives with her steadfast and unwavering focus on the health of every American. As Director of the CDC, she led a complex organization on the frontlines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity. She marshalled our finest scientists and public health experts to turn the tide on the urgent crises we’ve faced.

JUST IN – CDC director Rochelle Walensky is stepping down. pic.twitter.com/ozKBi2FEZ9

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 5, 2023

Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans. We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her the best in her next chapter.

Walensky took over the reins at the agency in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, and became a focus of conservative criticism of various restrictions favored by the Biden administration to slow the spread of the virus.

Others saw more to praise in her performance as White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, who previously served as White House coronavirus response coordinator, submitted on Friday that Walensky’s “creativity, skill and expertise, and pure grit were essential to our effective response and an historic recovery that made life better for Americans across the country.”

In her letter of resignation, Walensky said that she had “mixed feelings” about leaving her post, but asserted that the end of the pandemic would make a good time for a leadership transition. “I have never been prouder of anything I have done in my professional career,” declared Walensky.

She had previously served as chair of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council at the National Institutes of Health and chief of the division of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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