WASHINGTON — President-elect Biden is set to take office Jan. 20, and he’s made repeatedly clear that rebooting the federal government’s Covid-19 response will be his first priority.
But it’s easy for Biden to pledge that he’ll deliver 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office and foster a culture of broad mask use. It’s much harder to actually get it done. And in reality, of course, it won’t be Biden himself doing the work or executing the new strategies.
Some of Biden’s biggest health care influencers are obvious. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, for instance, is Biden’s nominee for health secretary. Jeff Zients, the Obama administration economist, will serve as the incoming administration’s Covid-19 coordinator. Rochelle Walensky, the Massachusetts General Hospital infectious diseases chief, could begin as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as soon as Inauguration Day.
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