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Kessler, who is currently co-chair of the Biden Transition Coronavirus Task Force, will help lead Operation Warp Speed in the new role, leading the group that started under President Donald Trump to accelerate development and the distribution of vaccines.
Kessler will succeed Moncef Slaoui, who led the effort under the Trump administration. Slaoui, the most visible person in charge of the Trump administration’s vaccination effort who was a notable voice of cooperation at a time when Trump was refusing efforts to begin a transition, announced earlier this week that he was resigning at the request from Biden’s transition team.
Slaoui will stay another month to “ensure a smooth transition,” a Biden transition official told CNN earlier this week. General Gustave Perna, who is currently the COO of Operation Warp Speed, will remain in the new administration, but under his “new structure,” a transition official told CNN.
Operation Warp Speed was able to quickly manufacture a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, but fell short of expectations by administering doses to Americans. Biden set a schedule for 100 million shots in the first 100 days of his tenure.
Kessler, who worked for Republicans and Democrats, previously led the FDA for more than six years under Presidents George HW Bush and Bill Clinton.
He was first appointed by Bush as the head of the FDA in 1990 and for the first time oversaw the deployment of the agency’s iconic “Nutrition Facts label” on packaged foods. He also helped streamline the FDA drug approval process and led the agency during the AIDS / HIV epidemic.
Kessler was also a strong advocate for greater regulation of nicotine and launched an FDA investigation, pitting him against the powerful tobacco industry. The FDA investigation led tobacco executives to admit the addictive qualities of nicotine, and lawsuits filed by state attorneys general have resulted in a landmark settlement of more than $ 360 billion. Almost a decade later, legislation was passed in 2009 giving the FDA the power to regulate tobacco products.
His approach to the high-level FDA position led some conservatives to demand his ouster, believing Kessler was enforcing too many government regulations, The New York Times reported. His crackdown on unsubstantiated health claims by vitamin makers has turned Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who was his former boss and backed him for the post of FDA chief, into a big critic.
Kessler resigned as FDA commissioner in February 1997 and was named dean of Yale medical school later that year.
Kessler is currently Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. He has also served as chairman of the boards of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group, and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
This story has been updated with additional reports and background information.
CNN’s Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.
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