Dan Diamond, Washington Post: “Easier to play offense than defense”

Dan Diamond, Washington Post, reflects on big emerging themes. The administration’s scientific, biomedical, and public health leadership has emptied. What should we make of Mandy Cohen’s appointment to be the next Director of CDC? With the turnover, who will be the “quarterback” of government during the next crisis? Congressional panels are raising “uncomfortable” questions about Covid's origins. It is an “open question” what happens with the reauthorization of PEPFAR and the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA). The shift of opinion against NIH and CDC will leave “the brands damaged.” Presidential campaigns—Governor DeSantis’ attacks against “Faucism” and RFK Jr’s anti-vaxxer efforts— offer “nothing good for public health.” Attacks upon science and public health have far more energy than the defenders. “Easier to play offense than defense.”