Nirav Shah, MD, is leaving his position as the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to take on a new role as the principal deputy director of the U.S. CDC.
In his position as immediate past president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Dr. Shah led the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Jan. 12 news release from the ASTHO. He was responsible for "communicating and overseeing the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine for all age groups, culminating in nearly 80 percent of the entire U.S. population receiving at least one dose of the vaccine," the release said.
Dr. Shah is credited with Maine having one of the highest vaccination rates in the country and also "played a key role shaping national COVID-19 policy through frequent meetings with other state leaders and federal officials."
Michael Fraser, PhD, chief executive officer of the ASTHO, called Dr. Shah a "leader among peers."
"Dr. Shah's counterparts and our ASTHO team looked to him for advice and encouragement during a time of extreme stress, and he handled the extra burden on his shoulders with humor and poise," he said in the release. "I cannot think of a better person to serve as the CDC's next principal deputy director."