WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients and his deputy Natalie Quillian are leaving the administration subsequent month, the White Home introduced Thursday. They are going to be changed by Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown College Faculty of Public Well being.
Biden, in a press release, praised Zients and his group for “gorgeous” and “consequential” progress in opposition to the coronavirus pandemic.
“When Jeff took this job, lower than 1% of Individuals had been totally vaccinated; fewer than half our colleges had been open; and in contrast to a lot of the developed world, America lacked any at-home COVID exams,” Biden mentioned. “In the present day, virtually 80% of adults are totally vaccinated; over 100 million are boosted; nearly each faculty is open; and a whole bunch of tens of millions of at-home exams are distributed each month.”
Biden famous that the U.S. is main the worldwide effort to combat COVID, “delivering extra free vaccines to different international locations than each different nation.”
Biden’s assertion saying Jha’s appointment cited his familiarity to Individuals as a fixture on cable information.
“As we enter a brand new second within the pandemic — executing on my Nationwide COVID-19 Preparedness Plan and managing the continued dangers from COVID — Dr. Jha is the proper particular person for the job,” he mentioned.
