Newsman: President-elect Joe Biden named California’s attorney general Xavier Becerra as his next secretary of Health and Human Services. Biden also has announced the other nominees of his team to lead his policy to address the nation’s greatest public health crisis in a century once he takes office in January 20th2021. However, Back on Thursday Biden had announced Dr. Anthony Fauci would continue his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases while also serving as his chief medical adviser on COVID-19.
Biden also said he would nominate Dr. Rochelle Walensky as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walensky is chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Harvard Medical School professor.
Today, Biden said in a statement that he will nominate Xavier Becerra to lead the sprawling Health and Human Services department. Becerra as the California’s attorney general has led well-known legal fights against President Trump’s efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Becerra would be the first Latino to lead HHS, the Biden transition team said in a statement.
Biden selected Jeff Zients to be the White House coordinator of the coronavirus response, a point person for efforts by agencies and state and local governments on vaccine distribution and supply chain issues. Zients, a veteran of the Obama administration with extensive business ties according to the news media , is known for having spearheaded the work to fix the healthcare.gov website, used to sign up for Obamacare after its disastrous rollout in 2013.
Biden also chooses Dr. Vivek Murthy to nominate as Surgeon General. Murthy has been a key coronavirus adviser to Biden, regularly briefing him on the pandemic during his campaign and the transition. Murthy was Surgeon General during the Obama administration.
Dr. Marcella Nunez- Smith director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center at Yale School of Medicine, will lead a new task force aimed at reducing disparities in response , care and treatment for COVID-19, the Biden team said.
