Biden’s new CDC director says Trump administration has muzzled scientists

Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who were sidelined by the Trump administration during the Covid-19 pandemic “will make themselves heard again,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice for run the agency.

Last year, the CDC went months without speaking to the American public after Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, warned in February that schools and businesses may have to close to contain the coronavirus.

“We ask the American public to work with us to prepare for the hope that this could be bad,” Messonnier said in premonitory remarks that rocked markets and would have angered President Donald Trump.

Throughout the pandemic, Trump has continued to clash with top scientists in the country, including current CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield, publicly contradicting him on issues such as the timeline of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Walensky has vowed to restore the public voice of the CDC and its scientists.

“They’ve been diminished. I think they’ve been muzzled. This science hasn’t been heard,” she told the Journal of the American Medical Association on Tuesday, Dr. Howard Bauchner. “This world-renowned, top-notch agency has not really been appreciated over the past four years and very strongly over the past year, so I need to fix this.”

Walensky has said she intends to revamp the CDC’s communications efforts under the Biden administration. This could include regular briefings led by Walensky or subject matter experts to explain scientific research published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, she said. She added that it would likely also mean a more concerted plan to engage the public on social media.

“Science is now transmitted through Twitter. Science is transmitted on social media, podcasts and many different ways, and I think that’s essential,” Walensky said. “We need to have a social media plan for the agency.”

She said strengthening the agency’s social media presence will be especially important as the country battles vaccine reluctance. Misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines is rife on social media, she said, adding that the agency needs to get “the right information” out.

Over the past year, communications from the CDC have often been at odds with those from the White House. The agency revised guidelines on reopening churches and religious sites after Trump urged state officials to allow places of worship to reopen. And over the summer, Trump installed longtime ally and former campaign official Michael Caputo as a senior spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the parent department of the CDC, in the aim to better align the messages with the White House.

Caputo and his team tried to undermine scientists at the CDC, pressuring them to review scientific research that went against guidelines pushed by the White House, according to internal emails obtained by House lawmakers. Walensky said on Tuesday that she would ensure the CDC communicates transparently with the American people regardless of the political consequences.

“Which I need to fix immediately,” she said.