A North Dakota native has been named to a new and vital health care post. The nation ought to wish her well because the task before her is daunting: overseeing the overhaul of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after its frustrating response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mary Wakefield is a nurse and veteran health care administrator who served as acting deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under former President Barack Obama. Last week, Wakefield was tapped to serve in a new role at the CDC: leading a team that will determine fixes to problems identified by two reviews of the agency’s flawed Covid-19 approach.
Wakefield will bring a pragmatic Midwestern sensibility to the role, according to those have worked with her. Even so, the task she faces is monumental.
Long considered one of the world’s premier public health assets, the CDC turned in a fumbling performance at a time when the agency’s best work was needed. The stumbling began early with the bungled development of Covid-19 testing.
Unfortunately, the CDC failed to find its footing after that. While the agency is staffed with world-class scientists, they never gelled as a team.
Early chaos surrounding supplies of personal protective equipment for health care workers was one result. But communication to the public was particularly problematic. For much of the pandemic, Covid-19 trackers built by The New York Times and nonprofit organizations filled in information gaps about cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
The information the CDC did provide was often slow and written for a scientific audience. Adequate explanations were missing when public health recommendations evolved. While these changes reflected expanding knowledge of the virus and other developments, too often they felt arbitrary.
Masking is one example. There was early equivocation about the value, but later the agency embraced masks as part of the strategy to stop Covid-19’s spread. It felt like a switch had flipped, and the abruptness helped feed the rebellion against their use.
The agency’s communication struggles have continued during the Biden administration. Officials seem to have a tin ear when it comes to pleas for a second booster shot from those who aren’t currently eligible — essentially, healthy adults under 50. Many are concerned about variants and worry about previous shots’ waning protection.
Slavitt applauded the move to have Wakefield oversee reforms at the CDC. He worked with her at the federal level and said she’s focused, practical and “listens before she talks.”
The CDC has many critics. With that comes a responsibility to right this ship. Everyone has an interest because disease threats continue, as monkeypox’s spread and polio’s re-emergence illustrate.
— Minneapolis Star-Tribune
