Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who guided President Joe Biden’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic from his first day in office, is leaving her post, the White House announced Friday.

Her announcement comes days before the Biden administration plans to end the public health emergency in place since early 2020, and at a time when Covid fears have receded and life mostly returned to a pre-pandemic normal.

But the path there was far rockier than anticipated when Biden took office. Deaths from the disease remained at high levels as the Omicron variant took hold in the fall of 2021, and as many Americans refused vaccination.

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