Zeke Miller
PhD.Ash Jaa
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 coordinator, Jeff Zienz, and his deputy, Natalie Quillian, will leave the administration next month, the White House announced March 17. . They will be succeeded by Brown University Dean Dr. Ashish Jha. School of Public Health.
Zients is a seasoned manager and government executive hired by Biden prior to his appointment to develop and execute the federal government’s “wartime” response to the coronavirus pandemic, including boosting vaccines, treatments and testing. supply and distribution. His departure comes as the White House is shifting its stance from responding to an emergency to pushing Americans back to normal as the country learns to live with a less severe virus that may still be prevalent.
Earlier this month, Zients and his team released their latest national COVID-19 strategy, outlining a strategy to allow people to safely resume daily activities after a two-year pandemic disruption.
The choice of Jha comes as the Biden administration has been criticized for confusing public information around the virus at a time when many restrictions and mandates are being eased.
Biden’s statement announcing Jha’s appointment underscores his communication skills and familiarity with Americans as a cable news fixture.
“As we enter a new moment in the pandemic – executing my national COVID-19 preparedness plan and managing ongoing risks from COVID – Dr. Jha is the perfect person for the job,” he said.
In a statement, Biden praised Zienz and his team for making “amazing” and “important” progress in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
“When Jeff took the job, less than 1% of Americans were vaccinated; less than half of our schools were open; and unlike many developed countries, the U.S. lacked any at-home COVID testing,” Bai said. Den said. “Today, almost 80% of adults are vaccinated; more than 100 million lifts; nearly every school is open; hundreds of millions of home tests are distributed every month.”
Biden pointed out that the United States is leading the global effort to fight the new crown virus, “providing more free vaccines to other countries than any other country.”
The U.S. State Department announced on March 17 that the U.S. has shared more than 500 million doses of vaccines with the world, pledging to provide 1.2 billion doses by the end of this year.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the transition reflects the changing landscape of responding to the pandemic. “Jeff Zients’ superpower is that he’s a master of operations and management,” she said, while Jha is a respected public health communicator.
This 90-page National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan sets out initiatives and investments to continue to reduce serious illness and death from the virus, while preparing for potential new variants and providing employers and schools with resources to stay open.
“This plan lays out a roadmap to help us fight COVID-19 in the future as we move America from the crisis to a time when COVID-19 doesn’t disrupt our daily lives and is something we prevent, protect and treat. ,” the White House said. “We won’t just ‘live with COVID’. We will no longer let COVID-19 dictate our way of life because of our work.”
Before serving in the Biden administration, Zienz served as vice chairman of the Biden transition. During the Obama administration, he served as director of the National Economic Council, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, and led the restoration of HealthCare.gov after its disastrous 2013 launch. He is also a senior executive on the advisory board of the company.
Quillian served as Biden’s deputy campaign manager in 2020 and was a senior aide to the Obama White House chief of staff, serving on the National Security Council and the Pentagon.
