Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed, submitted his resignation on Wednesday as part of a plan to hand over the vaccination effort to President-elect Biden’s coronavirus team.
Slaoui’s resignation, which according to CNBC will take effect next month, comes because the president-elect has yet to appoint a new chief scientific adviser to the federal government’s vaccination system program, which has so far seen just over 9 million Americans for the first time received. dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Representatives of Biden’s transition team did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.
The elected president nominates Jeffrey Zients, the executive director and former office of management and budget (OMB) to oversee his COVID-19 response, while Kaiser Permanente chief health officer Bechara Chouchair is Biden’s vaccine coordinator.
Slaoui had earlier indicated that he would resign from his post as soon as two vaccines for COVID-19 hit the market, a milestone reached last month. He told Politico last week that he had extended his plans to continue until the Biden team no longer needed his help.
“I have decided to expand it to ensure that the operation continues to perform through the transition of government,” Slaoui told the news office.
An official at Biden’s transition team also told Politico that Slaoui would stay temporarily to ensure continuity of the work already done and to ensure a smooth process. “
General Gustave Perna told the news agency during the same conversation that Biden’s team had not asked him to step down from the country’s oversight of the distribution of vaccine for the country.
“I’m signed up, I’m here until my part of the mission is over, or else I’m told,” he said.