WASHINGTON (AP) – Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, was named new White House COVID-19 response coordinator Thursday.
President Joe Biden selected Jha to replace White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients, who is leaving in April after 14 months with the administration.
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The university announced Jha would take a temporary leave to serve the role which begins on April 5. Jha, in a statement, expressed enthusiasm about how he will build upon his work at Brown in role at the White House.
“Throughout this pandemic, we have worked at Brown to improve public understanding and information, and inform policy at every level of government here and around the globe,” Jha said. “I am honored to accept President Biden’s invitation to serve and continue that work. I do so confident that the work of the Brown School of Public Health will advance around critical issues including pandemic preparedness and key initiatives we have launched and are growing, to improve understanding and policy in key public health issues, and train the next generation of public health leaders.”
The selection of Jha comes as the Biden administration has come under criticism for confusing public messaging around the virus as many restrictions and mandates are easing.
Biden’s statement announcing Jha’s appointment highlighted Jha’s communications skills and familiarity to Americans as a fixture on cable news.
“Dr. Jha is one of the leading public health experts in America, and a well-known figure to many Americans from his wise and calming public presence,” Biden said. “And as we enter a new moment in the pandemic — executing on my National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan and managing the ongoing risks from COVID — Dr. Jha is the perfect person for the job.”
Brown University President Christina H. Paxson said Jha’s appointment brings a top scholar and highly regarded Brown academic leader to White House service, offering a prominent illustration of the ways in which the university can make a positive impact on domestic and global issues of significant consequence.
“Ashish will bring to President Biden and our nation what he has brought — and will bring back — to Brown: an unrivaled commitment to improving public health equitably, effectively, creatively, with heart and a commitment to science,” Paxson said. “The work he has begun at the School of Public Health will continue, with the strong team he has recruited and the full support of the University. And it will advance even further with the benefit of this experience in national and global leadership.”
In his statement, Biden praised Zients and his team for “stunning” and “consequential” progress against the coronavirus pandemic.
“When Jeff took this job, less than 1% of Americans were fully vaccinated; fewer than half our schools were open; and unlike much of the developed world, America lacked any at-home COVID tests,” Biden said. “Today, almost 80% of adults are fully vaccinated; over 100 million are boosted; virtually every school is open; and hundreds of millions of at-home tests are distributed every month.”
Biden noted that the U.S. is leading the global effort to fight COVID, “delivering more free vaccines to other countries than every other nation.”
The State Department on Thursday announced that the U.S. has shared more than 500 million doses with the world of 1.2 billion doses promised by the end of this year.
The 90-page National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan spells out initiatives and investments to continue to drive down serious illness and deaths from the virus, while preparing for potential new variants and providing employers and schools the resources to remain open.
“This plan lays out the roadmap to help us fight COVID-19 in the future as we move America from crisis to a time when COVID-19 does not disrupt our daily lives and is something we prevent, protect against, and treat,” the White House said. “We are not going to just ‘live with COVID.’ Because of our work, we are no longer going to let COVID-19 dictate how we live.”
Before his service in the Biden administration, Zients served as vice-chair of Biden’s transition. In the Obama administration he was the director of the National Economic Council, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, and led the effort to fix HealthCare.gov after its disastrous rollout in 2013. He was also a top executive at the Advisory Board Company.
Quillian served as a deputy campaign manager for Biden in 2020, and was top aide to the chief of staff in the Obama White House, with stints at the National Security Council and the Pentagon.
