The announcement coincided with the World Health Organization's statement that Covid-19 is no longer a global emergency.
Walensky stated that the waning of the pandemic presented an opportune time for a transition. She will step down on June 30th, and an interim director has not yet been named.
In her resignation letter to President Joe Biden, Walensky expressed mixed emotions and did not provide a specific reason for her departure, but stated that the nation was at a transitional moment as emergency declarations come to an end.
“The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency marks a tremendous transition for our country, for public health, and in my tenure as CDC Director,” Walensky wrote. “I took on this role, at your request, with the goal of leaving behind the dark days of the pandemic and moving CDC – and public health – forward into a much better and more trusted place.”
“In the process, we saved and improved lives and protected the country and the world from the greatest infectious disease threat we have seen in over 100 years.”
“While at CDC, I had the true gift of meeting, working with, and giving voice to thousands of people at the agency who work 24/7 to worry about health and public health so that the rest of the nation does not have to,” Walensky said. “I have never been prouder of anything I have done in my professional career.”
Prior to joining CDC, 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 front line of the COVID-19 pandemic and conducted research on vaccine delivery and strategies to reach underserved communities.
Walensky is recognized internationally for her work to improve HIV screening and care in South Africa and nationally for motivating health policy and informing clinical trial design and evaluation in a variety of settings. (ILKHA)