Murthy named for second time as US surgeon general
UK-BORN DOCTOR WILL LEAD COUNTRY’S COVID RESPONSE, INCUDING ITS IMMUNISATION DRIVE
PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden on Monday (7) named Vivek Murthy as surgeon general – a role he previously held under Barack Obama – and nominated California attorney general Xavier Becerra as his secretary of health.
Harvard infectious disease expert Rochelle Walensky was nominated as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
When Biden takes office on January 20, his health team will be immediately responsible for rolling out a historic immunisation drive – set to launch later this month in a bid to gain control of a pandemic that has killed 280,000 people in the country. “This trusted and accomplished team of leaders will bring the highest level of integrity, scientific rigour, and crisismanagement experience to one of the toughest challenges America has ever faced,” Biden said.
Murthy, 43, was born in the UK to Indian immigrants who then moved to the US when he was a child. He said on Twitter, “I never dreamed I’d have the honour to once again serve as Surgeon General. In this moment of crisis, I’m grateful for the opportunity to help end this pandemic, be a voice for science, and support our nation on its path to rebuilding and healing.”
In the run-up to the presidential election last month, Murthy emerged as one of the top advisers of Biden on public health and coronavirus issues, at times briefing him more than once daily.
At a fund raiser organised by Indian-Americans in September, which was addressed by Biden, Murthy said, “Joe Biden is the kind of guy I would love to bring home to have dinner with my mom and dad,” and added homemade ‘masala dosa’ would be served.
“He’s authentic. He’s real. And he says what he thinks and that’s something I really love about him… He says what’s on his mind. He’s honest and true,” Murthy said.
Murthy, along with former head of the Food and Drug Administration David Kessler, would also “pore over research and data on the virus and consult with modelers, vaccinologists and other experts so they can provide Biden with projections about the coming months,” according to a New York Times report in October.
Murthy received his bachelor of arts degree from Harvard, his masters in business administration from the Yale School of Management, and his MD from the Yale School of Medicine, according to the Biden-Harris transition team. He previously helped lead the US response to the Ebola and Zika viruses and the opioid crisis. He also established the Swasthya Project, an India-based community health partnership, to train women in rural communities become local leaders in the health sector.
Biden, who has said he would ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days when he moves into the White House, vowed his administration would “ready on day one to mobilise every resource of the federal government” to lower the soaring daily death toll from Covid-19.
Biden confirmed the US government’s respected top infectious disease specialist, Anthony Fauci, would remain in his post as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – and will also serve as Biden’s chief medical adviser on Covid-19. Biden has stressed that he would strive for diversity when choosing staff. (Agencies)