The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aims to become more nimble as a result of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

That means having a workforce ready to respond, sharing scientific findings and data more quickly, and communicating more effectively with the public — all part of the agency’s “Moving Forward” initiative — according to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.

Walensky met Monday with the state Department of Health to discuss the initiative, followed by a speech offering encouragement to students at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.

“Over the past three years through tremendous challenges, those in public health and health care have worked tirelessly to avert transmission, prevent illness and save lives in the face of a diminished workforce; an injured, fractionated and polarized nation; and a public health system weakened by years of neglect,” she said. “For many it was this COVID moment that demonstrated the importance of our public health and health care workforce.”

The next generation of students will be among those “uniquely equipped” to take on the public health challenges and opportunities ahead.

Walensky shared how working as an intern at a hospital during the HIV/AIDs epidemic in the mid-’90s in Baltimore shaped her path to becoming an infectious disease doctor.

She remembers admitting patients night after night, feeling helpless, until the first cocktail treatment was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 1995. That was what motivated and energized her, and what ignited her passion for public health.

She noted the number of parallels between the AIDS epidemic and COVID-19 due to health disparities in the United States.

“We in health and public health have known about those inequities before COVID-19,” she said in an interview. “COVID-19 shined a light on those, and I feel like it’s our responsibility in this moment to continue to let that light shine so that in all areas of health and public health, we recognize we need to address these community differences.”

CDC has awarded the state Health Department $14.2 million from its Public Health Infrastructure Grant, mostly to help rural and underrepresented populations.

Of that amount, $13.5 million is expected to support workforce development, such as recruiting, training and retaining staff. It also includes $705,000 to establish a public health accreditation team and a department communications office, and to increase community partnerships.

In a ‘better place’

During the pandemic, CDC has offered guidance on everything from when and where to wear masks to getting COVID-19 vaccines and tests, and isolation guidelines following an infection.

Where are we in this pandemic three years later?

“I think COVID is going to be with us for a while, a long while,” she told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “What I can tell you, we’re in a much better place. We have a strong wall of immunity either based on natural immunity, which has happened, as well as vaccine- induced immunity. We have a lot of people who have had some protection from either one or both.”

There are also treatments available now, such as Paxlovid, she said, but CDC is still at work encouraging people to take measures to protect themselves and prevent deaths.

While CDC will continue efforts to track COVID-19 metrics such as cases, tests, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccination rates, she said, the agency does not have the authority to mandate that states provide the data. As that data declines, so will CDC’s ability to offer these metrics.

Looking toward the future, Walensky encouraged medical students to ask the big questions and strive high — and reminded them that public health means caring for everyone, especially those who are underserved, among other words of advice.

“I do feel like in health and public health, this has been an interesting time to be training, and I do want to — to the extent that I can — inspire the next generation and let them know,” she said in an interview. “People will talk about how hard it is to be in health and public health right now. That is so true, but there has never been a more fulfilling time to be here as well. … If anything, this is what we trained for.”