Senators demanded clear answers from Biden administration health officials on the resurging pandemic and the government's plans for combating it. They mostly got jargon.
Centers for Disease Control Director Rochelle Walensky spent several minutes walking lawmakers through her agency's recently-amended guidelines for Covid infections. | Greg Nash/AP PhotoSenators on Tuesday demanded clear answers from the Biden administration health officials on the state of the resurging pandemic and the government's short- and long-term plans for combating it. They mostly got jargon.
“We want the Biden team to take advantage of the opportunity to speak directly to those frustrations and anxieties,” a senior Democratic aide told POLITICO heading into the hearing.
When HELP Committee Chair Patty Murray interrupted to ask for more clarity on what to do between days five and 10, Walensky replied: “You shouldn’t go visit grandma. You shouldn’t get on an airplane.” In particular, she said she has heard from hospitals around the country that “they had plenty of beds, but they didn’t have staff to staff them” and that preventing closures of schools and pharmacies were other top priorities.Walensky is arguing that even the economic imperative to get more people back to work faster has a health component. If hospitals don’t have enough workers, for example, they could be forced to turn patients away or delay elective procedures.
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