The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting a review in response to criticism of how it has handled the COVID-19 pandemic with an aim of modernizing the agency, the Washington Post reports.
As the Post notes, the agency has been blasted for its blunders in rolling out SARS-CoV-2 tests and the initial limited testing eligibility as well as more recent confusion over masking and vaccine booster guidelines. A common refrain, it adds, is that the agency has not been nimble enough to react swiftly to new data.
"Never in its 75-year history has CDC had to make decisions so quickly, based on often limited, real-time, and evolving science," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky says in a statement, according to the Post. She adds that "we know that now is the time for CDC to integrate the lessons learned into a strategy for the future."
The Post adds that Walensky has asked an outside advisor, Jim Macrae from the Health Resources and Services Administration, to conduct a one-month review of the agency's "structure, systems, and processes" and has also tasked three senior CDC officials — Deb Houry, Robin Bailey, and Sherri Berger — with gathering feedback and suggestions for strategic change.