Former CDC official: ‘Individuals across the administration’ commented on COVID-19 guidance

Amanda Campbell, the former deputy chief of staff for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on Sunday that the agency received feedback from “individuals across the administration” while developing guidance for the coronavirus pandemic, leading to delays.

In June, when President Trump was pushing back against CDC guidelines that recommended continued school closures, “we did see individuals throughout the administration commenting on the guidance that the CDC was trying to put out and, unfortunately, that often led to delays in some cases,” Campbell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” 

“In that particular instance,” she added, “it led to us having to go back and make changes and do additional guidance in order to provide the right information and more information to the American people.”

“[I]t’s so critically important that we, moving forward, are able to provide the CDC both the political support that they need to be able to do their job, to be able to communicate directly to the American people again, but also the financial support that they need to do their jobs” she said.

NEW: Fmr. CDC Dep. Chief of Staff Amanda Campbell says “individuals across the administration” commented on CDC’s Covid guidance through summer 2020.

Campbell: “What was so critical during that time … was CDC to be able to get information out quickly to the American people.” pic.twitter.com/PKaInaVVgT

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) December 20, 2020

“But really what was so critical during that time … was CDC to be able to get information out quickly to the American people so that they could make the best decisions for themselves and their loved ones,” she continued.

Campbell, who left the CDC in August, made similar comments in an interview with The New York Times.

“What was so different [from previous pandemics] was the political involvement, not only from H.H.S. but then the White House, ultimately, that in so many ways hampered what our scientists were able to do,” she told the newspaper in an interview published last week.