Mandy Cohen, the former head of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services who is now director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, returned to North Carolina Monday for a roundtable discussion about the factors that shape people’s health.
The outcome of yesterday’s election could determine how much the nation focuses on things such as access to transportation, jobs and housing — things that have a larger influence on health care outcomes than realized in the past.
Cohen’s agency, in particular, could be dramatically reshaped by the outcome of the presidential race, which remained undetermined as of Wednesday morning. Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently said that former President Donald J. Trump has promised to give him control of public health agencies , including the CDC, if he wins.
Before being appointed by President Joe Biden to direct the CDC, Cohen led North Carolina’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as secretary of NCDHHS. In that office, she repeatedly advocated for North Carolinians to get vaccinated, and she worked to dispel myths and conspiracy theories about vaccine safety.