President Joe Biden has selected former North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen to be the next head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to multiple reports.
Cohen will replace Rochelle Walensky upon her departure on June 30.
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Prior to her NCDHHS position, Cohen served in various senior-level positions at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the Obama administration, playing a strategic role in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Some have been quick to highlight Cohen’s record on COVID-19 while at NCDHHS during the pandemic.
Schools with students in K-8th grade should require all children and staff to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Schools with students in 9th-12th grades should ensure that anyone who isn’t fully vaccinated, including students, wear a mask indoors.
— Mandy Cohen (@DrMandyCohen) July 26, 2021
Cohen said in July 2020 that COVID-19 did not spread easily among young children, but schools in North Carolina did not reopen until March 2021. Cohen also was a proponent of masking all children, including kindergartners, regardless of vaccination status.
The American Medical Association honored Cohen in March 2022 with its award for outstanding government service. AMA Board Chairman Bobby Mukkamala called Cohen “a credible and innovative leader [who] earned high marks during an incredibly trying time for her clear communication and collaborative style.”
Did you know it’s #WorldMaskWeek? Face coverings are one of our strongest tools to slow the spread of #COVID19 in our communities... and like my Dr. Fauci mask, they can be fun too! Join me in masking up this week & beyond – every time you leave the house. pic.twitter.com/CCTf7Ngj5e
— Mandy Cohen (@DrMandyCohen) August 13, 2020
Cohen left NCDHHS in January 2022 and became the executive vice president of Aledade Inc. and the CEO of Aledade Care Solutions, America's biggest network of independent primary care providers.
Cohen would be coming into the CDC at a critical juncture as the agency is facing both congressional and internal pressure for reform.
Walensky has come under significant scrutiny in recent weeks from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic for the agency’s handling of the crisis and, in particular, for its recommendations on school closures and its coordination with the American Federation of Teachers.
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Meanwhile, the agency has been undergoing a structural overhaul since April 2022 in order to address the ways that the organization can respond more nimbly to future public health emergencies.
The White House is supposed to make the announcement of Cohen’s selection later this month. Because the head of the CDC is not a Cabinet position, Biden does not have to seek Senate confirmation of his pick.