Operation Warp Speed ​​chief adviser resigns, Biden transition officer said

(Reuters) – Moncef Slaoui, the top adviser to Operation Warp Speed, has resigned, but will be available to Joe Biden’s next government as a consultant for about four weeks, a Biden transition official told Reuters late on Tuesday. .

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

Biden’s team did not ask Slaoui not to comply with his current contract, which includes a 30-day notice prior to termination, CNBC said.

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

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

The operation began last year as a national effort by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense, with the goal of providing substantial amounts of safe and effective vaccines to Americans by January 2021.

However, only about 2.6 million Americans received the COVID-19 vaccine on the last day of December, placing the United States far below the government’s goal of vaccinating 20 million people last month.

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

Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive who 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 said he planned to step down earlier this year, but last week he said that “he decided to extend this to ensure that the operation continues to function the way it has done during the transition of the administration.”