Joe Biden announced a 12-member Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board that includes Rick Bright, who was ousted by Trump for opposing the president’s advice to use sometimes lethal drug hydroxychloroquine to treat the coronavirus.
Said Biden in a statement: “Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts. The advisory board will help shape my approach to managing the surge in reported infections; ensuring vaccines are safe, effective, and distributed efficiently, equitably, and free; and protecting at-risk populations.
The Washington Post reports: “Biden’s task force will have three co-chairs: Vivek H. Murthy, surgeon general during the Obama administration; David Kessler, Food and Drug Administration commissioner under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton; and Marcella Nunez-Smith, associate dean for health equity research at the Yale School of Medicine.”
Also on the task force: Rick Bright, the former director of the federal office charged with developing countermeasures to infectious diseases who was ousted by Trump (because, science) and later filed a whistleblower complaint alleging he was removed from his post in retaliation for opposing the broad use of hycroxychloroquine,a drug frequently touted by President Donald Trump as a coronavirus treatment.
Biden’s task force will also include Drs Eric Goosby, Luciana Borio, Ezekiel Emanuel, Michael Osterholm, Atul Gawande, Loyce Pace, Julie Morita, Celine Gounder, and Robert Rodriguez.
Axios adds: “Beth Cameron, who served as senior director for global health security and biodefense in the Obama administration, and Rebecca Katz, co-director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University, are advisors to the Transition on COVID-19 and will work closely with the advisory board.”
