Outgoing state Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm is reflecting on her time in her position, including a pandemic, strikes, and vaccine rollouts, prior to her announced retirement.
Malcolm joined News Talk 830 WCCO's Adam Carter and Jordana Green, sharing that navigating through the pandemic was tough, especially with the contradictory statements between health officials and some politicians.
While the world watched, Malcolm said that some political messages started the nation out on the wrong foot, leaving many wondering why things weren’t done after “two weeks.” The biggest challenge she said she faced was how quickly everything continued to change.
“Just how quickly the information was changing was a real challenge,” Malcolm said.
She says the health community was learning, in real-time, about the new virus, which also confused the public.
But while the Minnesota Health Department always has plans in place for emergencies, Malcolm says the size and impact of COVID were unlike anything they expected.
“We have plans all the time for infectious disease outbreaks, other public health emergencies, but the sheer scale and duration of this was something that was completely unprecedented,” Malcolm said.
COVID is still with us, as Malcolm pointed out, with 400 people in hospitals across the state on a daily basis. But she says the severity of the illness has been lessened thanks to vaccines and therapeutics.
Malcolm, is now set to step down from her role after seeing more action in it than possibly any other Minnesota State Health Commissioner in recent memory.
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