Biden appoints fired general surgeon as COVID-19 task force leader



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President-elect Joe Biden has already named the heads of his coronavirus task force, including the surgeon general who was sacked shortly after President Trump took office.

Vivek Murthy, who was the nation’s top physician when Biden was vice president under Barack Obama, has been named one of the co-chairs along with former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler.

They will be joined by Dr Marcella Nunez-Smith of Yale University, Fox 61 said, along with the rest of the task force he referred to in his victory speech on Saturday which will be officially confirmed on Monday.

“The work starts right now,” Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

“The people want the country to move forward,” Bedingfield said, saying the election results proved “people are hungry for change”.

“He’s going to start his transition work in earnest this week. He’s going to make calls, he’s going to make announcements to the American people, on how he’s going to keep his campaign promises, ”she said.

Murthy – who was born in the UK to Indian immigrants – was appointed to a four-year term as surgeon general in 2014 by then-President Obama, before Trump forced him to resign in April 2016 , causing outrage at the time.

Kessler was appointed Commissioner of the FDA by President George HW Bush and served in that position during President Bill Clinton’s first term in the White House.

Both have already “advised [Biden] and our campaign since this virus first emerged in March, ”Bedingfield said, confirming their new appointments.

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