A senior official of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told a media outlet that the United States was unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic and should do more to get ready for the next pandemic.
"We were not ready for that," Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, said in a recent interview with Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB).
"There was lots of great work in many communities, but I think, as a nation, it wasn't a good performance," Schuchat, who is retiring after 33 years at the agency, was quoted by the GPB as saying.
"This was a really complex, systemwide assault. But another threat tomorrow, you know -- we are not where we need to be. We're still battling this one, and we have a lot of work to do to get better prepared for the next one," said Schuchat when answering a question regarding whether the country would be ready for another pandemic in the future.
"We have a lot of work to do in terms of the workforce, the data, the laboratory, the community outreach," said the senior official.
