Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has discussed several changes regarding the White House's response to the pandemic if he is elected in November, according to STAT.
Multiple campaign surrogates, scientific advisers to Mr. Biden's campaign and former health policy officials told STAT about Mr. Biden's plans to mitigate the pandemic in the U.S. if elected president.
Seven things to know:
1. Mr. Biden has said his first post-election phone call would be to Anthony Fauci, MD, requesting that the infectious disease expert continue his government service.
2. Mr. Biden has pledged to ramp up testing efforts, with hopes of 100 million tests conducted a month by January 2021.
3. The presidential candidate has promised to establish daily pandemic briefings led by scientists and public health experts.
4. Mr. Biden said he plans to restore a biodefense official to the National Security Council and improve COVID-19 surveillance by revamping insurance claims data.
5. The former vice president would appoint a supply-chain commander, according to Nicole Lurie, MD, former assistant health secretary for preparedness and response and current adviser to Mr. Biden.
6. Mr. Biden and his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, would meet in his existing informal COVID-19 war room four times a week for "a briefing on the state of coronavirus here and around the world."
7. Mr. Biden's potential administration would also tap new leadership at key agencies, such as HHS, the CDC and the FDA.