(4-12-21) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky contradicted Michigan Governor Whitmer’s administration on Monday, saying the answer to Michigan’s “acute situation” with COVID-19 is not to surge vaccines but to shut down the state and “flatten the curve.” 

In a Monday briefing Walensky said –

“Really what we need to do in those situations is shut things down.” 

“I think if we tried to vaccinate our way out of what is happening in Michigan, we will be disappointed that it took so long for the vaccine to work — to actually have the impact.” 

“The answer to that is to really close things down, to go back to our basics, to go back to where we were last spring, last summer, and to shut things down, to flatten the curve, to decrease contact with one another to test to the extent that we have available, to contact trace.”

Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy said –

“Michigan has been following best practices when it comes to combating COVID-19, including implementing CDC standards.”  

“As our nation’s top health experts have said, this is not a failure of policy, but rather a compliance, variant and mobility issue, which is why it’s important for us to ramp up vaccinations as quickly as possible,”

President Biden’s administration is refusing to boost vaccine doses to Michigan during the surge in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki

“It’s done with equity in mind. It’s done with the adult population in mind. Monday. “We don’t pick by our friends, we don’t pick through a political prism. We pick through what is most effective to be fair and equitable around the country.”

Who is CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH

Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, is the 19th Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the ninth Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. She is an influential scholar whose pioneering research has helped advance the national and global response to HIV/AIDS. Dr. Walensky is also a well-respected expert on the value of testing and treatment of deadly viruses.

Dr. Walensky served as Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2017-2020 and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2012-2020. She served on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic and conducted research on vaccine delivery and strategies to reach underserved communities.

Dr. Walensky is recognized internationally for her work to improve HIV screening and care in South Africa and nationally recognized for motivating health policy and informing clinical trial design and evaluation in a variety of settings.

She is a past Chair of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council at the National Institutes of Health, Chair-elect of the HIV Medical Association, and previously served as an advisor to both the World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

Originally from Maryland, Dr. Walensky received her Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis, her Doctor of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and her Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.