While many factors determine policy and decision-making in federal agencies, one that is significant and often shared among them, is how they are organized and managed. Next week's assignment asks you to evaluate a federal healthcare agency's initial response to the Covid 19 pandemic. In this activity, you build a foundation to make that evaluation by researching the management structure of a federal healthcare agency of your choosing.
Preparation
Choose a federal healthcare agency that has had direct involvement in the Covid-19 pandemic response such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Public Health Service, et cetera. Research the organization's pandemic-related responsibilities and management structure. During your research, you may want to explore early public messaging disseminated by the agency as you will be asked to evaluate it in next week's assignment.
In this activity, you will draw an organization chart [Example of Health and Human Services Organization ChartLinks to an external site.] using MS Word, Visio, or another graphics program to create an infographic to paste into a Word document. If you are using Word:
Open Microsoft Word.
Click on the Insert tab located on the top-left side.
Click on SmartArt and choose and modify a graphic of your choosing.
Scenario
Think back to January 2020 when the United States reported its first Covid-19 infection. Federal (as well as local) public healthcare agencies scrambled to understand the virus and its possible impact on the population. The government's response and information releases were at best uneven during the ensuing months. Each agency needed to provide messaging to inform and direct the public. Many were frustrated by the uneven messaging among these agencies. An initial step to a better understanding of policies and decision-making is to understand the organization making them.
Instructions
Identify a federal healthcare agency that had a direct and significant role in the nation's pandemic response and do the following:
Describe 3 roles that the organization played in the pandemic response that capture its main responsibilities or contributions (1 page). Examples include areas such as:
Information sharing or outreach.
Research.
Response efforts.
Medical assistance.
Vaccine distribution.
Information Sharing and Outreach: The CDC was the official voice for communicating data and trends to the public and policymakers through its website, weekly situation reports, and the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). This provided the quantitative evidence upon which all subsequent policy decisions, such as mask mandates and social distancing guidelines, were based.
2. Developing and Disseminating Clinical and Public Health Guidance
The CDC was tasked with quickly translating rapidly evolving scientific understanding into actionable guidelines for different sectors of society.5 This involved:
Clinical Protocols: Creating and continuously updating guidance for healthcare providers on testing protocols, infection prevention and control (IPC) in clinical settings, and criteria for patient isolation and quarantine.
Public Safety Guidance: Issuing recommendations for the general public regarding non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), such as mask usage, social distancing, ventilation standards for schools and businesses, and travel restrictions. The responsibility to create and defend these ever-changing guidelines placed the CDC at the center of public discourse and political scrutiny.
Operational Toolkits: Developing and distributing technical assistance and toolkits for state and local health departments, including contact tracing protocols and methods for mass testing site setup, thereby acting as the primary technical consultant for state-level response efforts.6
3. Coordinating Vaccine and Therapeutic Distribution Logistics
While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was responsible for authorization and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for much of the initial research, the CDC was centrally responsible for the public health strategy and logistical execution of the vaccination campaign.
ACIP Recommendations: The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) developed the ethical and clinical recommendations for who should receive the vaccine and when (prioritization phases), directly guiding distribution policy nationwide.7
Immunization Program: The CDC managed the distribution and reporting infrastructure through its Immunization Program and the federal COVID-119 vaccine allocation program, ensuring vaccines reached state health departments, pharmacies, and provider offices efficiently and equitably.
Vaccine Monitoring: The CDC operated the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and other surveillance systems (8$\text{V-safe}$) to monitor vaccine safety and effectiveness in real-world populations, building public confidence and ensuring continuous pharmacovigilance.9
Sample Answer
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Pandemic Roles
The CDC, as the nation's leading public health protection agency, was fundamentally responsible for monitoring, researching, and providing guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its roles captured the core functions necessary for managing a widespread infectious disease crisis.
1. Surveillance, Monitoring, and Data Dissemination
The CDC’s most critical initial role was establishing and maintaining a national surveillance system to track the spread of SARS-CoV-2. This core function involved:
Case Tracking: Collecting and analyzing data on confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths across all 50 states and territories to understand transmission dynamics and disease burden.
Genomic Surveillance: Through the SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology, and Surveillance (SPHERES) program, the CDC collaborated with state and academic labs to monitor the emergence and prevalence of new viral variants (e.g., Delta, Omicron). This provided the essential early warning system for public health officials and researchers.