Rochelle Walensky, the incoming director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she would begin her new job with a major to-do list: to help states correct Covid-19 vaccination programs and persuade exhausted Americans to wearing masks and taking other precautions. .
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, dr. Walensky said the agency will try to help people overcome doubts about Covid-19 vaccines and that it will increase public confidence in the CDC.
Dr. Walensky will take over the helm of the CDC on Wednesday, as an extremely transmissible mutant or variant of the new coronavirus could cause a new increase in infections in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, the vaccination campaign to stop the pandemic is starting slowly, and surveys show that many people in the US are reluctant to be vaccinated.
“This is an emergency,” said Dr. Walensky said when she did paperwork for her new job so she could get ready to work immediately after the change in administrations. New presidents often wait weeks or months to nominate CDC directors.