Operation Warp Speed ​​chief adviser resigns, says Biden transition manager

(Reuters) – Moncef Slaoui, chief advisor to Operation Warp Speed, has resigned but will be available to the new administration Joe Biden as a consultant for about four weeks, a Biden transition official told Reuters on Tuesday .

Slaoui’s role as the head of COVID-19 vaccine development for the government effort is expected to be diminished after January 20, according to cnb.cx/3bAxEce to CNBC, which first reported the development.

The Biden team did not ask Slaoui to stay beyond his current contract, which includes 30 days notice before termination, CNBC said.

The US Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Operation Warp Speed, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday night.

Operation Warp Speed ​​is the U.S. government’s program to distribute COVID-19 vaccines.

The operation began last year as part of a nationwide Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense effort to deliver substantial amounts of safe and effective vaccines to Americans by January 2021.

However, only about 2.6 million Americans had received a COVID-19 vaccine until the last day of December, putting the United States away from the government’s goal of vaccinating 20 million people last month.

“We know it should be better and we are working hard to improve it,” Slaoui said at a press conference in late December.

Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive who had also served on the board of Moderna Inc, was appointed last spring to lead the government’s efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine on an accelerated schedule.

According to Politico, Slaoui had said he planned to step down earlier this year, but last week he said he “decided to extend this in order to ensure that the operation continues to go as it is. did during the administrative transition.