The COVID-19 Advisory Board was announced in November 2020 by

President-elect of the United States The president-elect of the United States is the candidate who has presumptively won the United States presidential election and is awaiting inauguration to become the president. There is no explicit indication in the U.S. Constitution as to wh ...

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

as part of his presidential transition. It was co-chaired by physicians David A. Kessler, Marcella Nunez-Smith, and

Vivek Murthy Vivek Hallegere Murthy (born July 10, 1977) is an American physician and a former vice admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, who served as the 19th and 21st surgeon general of the United States from 2015 to 2017 a ...

and comprises 13 health experts. The board was then succeeded by the

White House COVID-19 Response Team The White House COVID-19 Response Team was the task force during the presidency of Joe Biden to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. It was set up by President Joe Biden on his first day in officeJanuary 20, 2021and replaced Pre ...

upon Biden's presidency in January 2021.

Background

Before naming any White House staff or cabinet appointments, Biden announced that he would appoint a COVID-19 task force, co-chaired by former Surgeon General

, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler and Yale University epidemiologist Professor Marcella Nunez-Smith. In November 2020, he announced the names of 13 health experts to serve on the COVID-19 Advisory Board. Biden pledged a more and larger federal government response to the pandemic than

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, akin to President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. This would include increased testing for

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

, a steady supply of

personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...

, distributing a vaccine and securing money from Congress for schools and hospitals under the aegis of a national "supply chain commander" who would coordinate the logistics of manufacturing and distributing protective gear and test kits. This would be distributed by a "Pandemic Testing Board", also similar to Roosevelt's

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Su ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Biden also pledged to invoke the

Defense Production Act The Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950 () is a United States federal law enacted on September 8, 1950, in response to the start of the Korean War.Congressional Research ServiceThe Defense Production Act of 1950: History, Authorities, and Con ...

more aggressively than Trump in order to build up supplies, as well as the mobilization of up to 100,000 Americans for a "public health jobs corps" of contact tracers to help track and prevent outbreaks.

Jeffrey Zients Jeffrey Dunston Zients (; born November 12, 1966) is an American business executive and former government official who served as the 31st White House chief of staff from February 2023 to January 2025 under U.S. president Joe Biden. Earlier in t ...

will work with the advisory board as the incoming White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator (

czar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

). Civil servant and political advisor, Natalie Quillian, will serve as Deputy Coronavirus Response Coordinator.

Succession

The board was dissolved on January 20, 2021, after

President Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 and re ...

was sworn in.

Members

There were 16 members of the COVID-19 advisory board, appointed by

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. Three of the members, David A. Kessler,

and Marcella Nunez-Smith, served as co-chairs.

References

{{Authority control National responses to the COVID-19 pandemic Task forces established for the COVID-19 pandemic U.S. federal government response to the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 establishments in the United States 2021 disestablishments in the United States Presidency of Joe Biden

Background

Succession

Members

See also

References