The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to conduct a review after facing a wave of criticism for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an agency-wide message to her leadership team and staff on Monday, CDC director Rochelle Walensky shared her plans to review the agency’s structure, saying that “never in its 75 years history has CDC had to make decisions so quickly, based on often limited, real-time, and evolving science.” She said that an external senior federal health official was hired for an evaluation of CDC’s structure, systems and processes, according to an earlier report published by the Washington Post.
The agency has come under strain and scrutiny as it was forced to quickly take action during the pandemic based on data developed at top speed. “Work is needed to institutionalize and formalize these approaches and to find new ways to adapt the agency’s structure to the changing environment,” a CDC spokesperson said in an emailed statement confirming the review.
