What is the People's CDC?
The People’s CDC is a coalition of public health practitioners, scientists, healthcare workers, educators, advocates and people from all walks of life working to reduce the harmful impacts of COVID-19.
We provide guidance and policy recommendations to governments and the public on COVID-19, disseminating evidence-based updates that are grounded in equity, public health principles, and the latest scientific literature.
Working alongside community organizations, we are building collective power and centering equity as we work together to end the pandemic. The People’s CDC is volunteer-run and independent of partisan political and corporate interests and includes anonymous local health department and other government employees. The People’s CDC is completely volunteer run with infrastructure support being provided by The University of Orange.
The Pandemic is NOT over
The CDC is creating the appearance that the pandemic is over. IT IS NOT.
“In late February, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unveiled a new Covid-19 monitoring system based on what they call “Community Levels.” By downplaying the importance of Sars-CoV-2 transmission, the new system instantly turned what was a pandemic map still red from Omicron transmission to green – creating the false impression that the pandemic is over.
Released four days before the State of the Union, the new CDC measures and the narrative they created let President Biden claim victory over the virus via sleight of hand: a switch from standard reporting of community transmissions to measures of risk based largely on contentious hospital-based metrics. The previous guidelines called anything over 50 cases per 100,000 people “substantial or high.” Now, they say 200 cases per 100,000 is “low” as long as hospitalizations are also low.
“The resulting shift from a red map to a green one reflected no real reduction in transmission risk. It was a resort to rhetoric: an effort to craft a success story that would explain away hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths and the continued threat the virus poses”
The People’s CDC Guardian Op-ed
Organizational Structure
The PCDC operates as an inverted pyramid with autonomous teams being the driving force of producing content. The different working teams are at the top of the pyramid being supported by General Membership. The Coordinating Committee provides infrastructure support for the coalition. University of Orange supports website & Zoom access as well as facilitation. To find out more information about the organizational structure and working teams, check out our introductory webinar:
Members
(Name, Credentials – Affiliations – Working Group)
Karen McPhail-Bell, PhD, B.Beh.Sc, AFHEA – Artist, Health Promotion/Public Health Researcher/Consultant – Arts
Sam Friedman, PhD – AIDS Researcher, Social Activist, Marxist, Epidemiologist, Medical School Faculty – Arts, Community
Rocco Giannetti, FAIA – Community Activist – Arts
Lara Jirmanus, MD, MPH – Primary Care Physician and Community Organizer – CDC External Review
Rita Valenti, RN – CDC External Review
Linda D. Green, MD – Physician, Public Health Awakened – Community Outreach
Fran Gilmore, MS – Industrial Hygienist – Community Outreach
Noha Aboelata, MD – CEO Roots Community Health Center – Community Outreach
Karen Pomerantz, MPH, MLS – Retired Public Health Educator/Activist – Community Outreach
Rob Wallace, PhD – Evolutionary Epidemiologist – COVID This Week/Long COVID
Douglas Ferrand – University of Orange – Infrastructure
Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD – Social Psychiatrist – Infrastructure
Kaitlin Sundling, MD, PhD – Physician-Scientist, World Health New Health Network and COVID Action Group – Masking in Healthcare
Shimi Sharief, MD, MPH – Public Health Physician – Pressure and Community
Dannie Ritchie, MD, MPH – Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Brown University, Alpert School of Medicine, Founder, Community Health Innovations of Rhode Island – Pressure Group
Margaux Simmons, PhD – University of Orange/Concerned Citizen – Pressure
Ellen Isaacs, MD – Physician, Coeditor of multiracialunity.org – Publications
Chloe Humbert Human – Artist – Pressure
Edderic Ugaddan – Senior Data Scientist – Quant
Daniele Fedonni, MPH – Biostatistician – Quant
Lauren Frey, MPH – Urgency of Equity
Margaret Bray, PhD – Biostatistician – Urgency of Equity
Molly Rose Kaufman – University of Orange – Infrastructure
Anonymous, MPH – Infectious Disease Epidemiologist – Weather Report/Pressure