Newly released emails show how unprepared and unaware Dr. Rochelle Walensky was after taking the helm at the CDC. These emails show that while on live TV, Dr. Walensky had to Google her own agency’s website when asked about advancing equity during the pandemic.
An email thread from February 2021 revealed the director had searched for her own agency’s social vulnerability index (SVI), a tool used by the agency to provide equity-focused disaster assistance, while “live” on TV during the agency’s COVID-19 Response Team briefing broadcast.
Walensky’s staff provided some information to her amid the broadcast, and in a thank-you email admitting she had “never googled while on live” TV.
“The pattern of disarray in these emails is consistent with the haphazard messaging and politicized policies coming out of the CDC. Unfortunately, it’s not shocking that an unprepared and unaware Dr. Rochelle Walensky Googled key agency terms on live TV, given that she relied on teachers unions to write school reopening guidance,” said Caitlin Sutherland, Executive Director of APT.
