Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
After Securing White House Victory, Biden Launches His COVID Task Force
ABC News: Biden And Harris Launch Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris rolled out their transition COVID-19 advisory board Monday morning, naming the people in charge of making the rubber of the duo’s COVID policy hit the road as they prepare to take office in just 72 days. “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,” Biden said in the release announcing the board. (Nagle, 11/9)
Stat: With Murthy, Nunez-Smith, And Kessler, Biden Leans On Experience To Steer Covid-19 Task Force
President-elect Joe Biden has turned to three prominent physicians to lead his coronavirus task force who have collectively signaled that they will approach the pandemic far differently than the Trump administration, which they have criticized for mixing politics with science. A top Biden aide on Sunday announced the two co-chairs of the incoming administration’s task force: Vivek Murthy, the former U.S. surgeon general, and David Kessler, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. (Facher, 11/8)
Politico: Rick Bright, Atul Gawande On Biden’s Covid Task Force
The Biden team also will tap high-profile surgeon and New Yorker writer Atul Gawande, who worked at HHS during the Clinton administration and recently led a health care joint venture between Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan known as Haven. Other members of the advisory group include Luciana Borio, who served as the FDA’s acting chief scientist and on the National Security Council during the Trump administration, and University of Minnesota infectious disease specialist Michael Osterholm. (Diamond, 11/9)
CNN: Biden Transition Team Announces Coronavirus Advisers, Including Whistleblower Rick Bright
President-elect Joe Biden's transition team announced the group of public health experts that will make up his coronavirus advisory board, which includes Rick Bright, a whistleblower from the Trump administration who alleged that his early warnings about the pandemic were ignored and ultimately led to his removal. The inclusion of Bright, who said that he was met with skepticism by Trump administration officials when he raised concerns in the early throes of the pandemic about critical supplies shortages, is a clear signal of the contrasted direction that Biden intends to take his administration when it comes to dealing with the pandemic. (Mucha, 11/9)
In related news about Biden's task force —
Reuters: Biden Team Held COVID-19 Talks With Operation Warp Speed Drugmakers Before Election
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s healthcare advisers have held talks with drugmaker executives on the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed program to accelerate development of a possible COVID-19 treatment, a Biden spokesman said on Sunday. ... Biden’s advisers met with companies that have COVID-19 vaccines or therapies in late-stage clinical trials in September and October, Bloomberg News had reported earlier. (11/8)
But Biden's transition team may have to keep waiting —
The Washington Post: A Little-Known Trump Appointee Is In Charge Of Handing Transition Resources To Biden — And She Isn’t Budging
A Trump administration appointee is refusing to sign a letter allowing President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to formally begin its work this week, in another sign the incumbent president has not acknowledged Biden’s victory and could disrupt the transfer of power. The administrator of the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency in charge of federal buildings, has a little-known role when a new president is elected: to sign paperwork officially turning over millions of dollars, as well as give access to government officials, office space in agencies and equipment authorized for the taxpayer-funded transition teams of the winner. (Rein, O'Connell and Dawsey, 11/8)
