WATCH: We want to ‘give teachers what they need’ in school COVID directives: CDC director

"Getting kids and teachers back to in-person learning has been complicated to say the least", Joy Behar opened the segment on The View.

"While you've stated the process has been 'free from political meddling', the CDC has been in contact with a large and politically influential teachers' union regarding school guidelines."

"So, some see that as a direct example of political interference the CDC is claiming to reject. How do you respond to that?"

Walensky replied, "You know, as a matter of practice, when we put out guidance, we engage with our stakeholders and users of that information, consumers of that information, to understand what it is that they need from the guidance when we put it out."

"We do that before we release the guidance, so we understand and confirm that what we put out is what they need to move forward. We did so before we put out our school guidance. We engaged with over 50 organizations and communities. I personally listened to parents; I personally listened to teachers."

"The reference that is being spoken about is, when we spoke to teachers, we learned, and importantly so, that our initial draft of the guidance, while it spoke to students that might be of high risk for severe disease, we had neglected to include what happens if teachers are at high risk of severe disease."

"And that was an important oversight that we needed to include, that teachers and educators and principals and superintendents were going to look to, as to how we were going to handle what happens if you have teachers that are at high risk of severe disease."

Schools across the country are slowly opening up as more and more people are getting vaccinated. Some areas are quicker to open up than others.