Moncef Slaoui, the top adviser to Operation Warp Speed on Wednesday, presented his resignation as part of a plan to hand over the vaccination effort to President-elect Biden’s coronavirus team.
Slaoui’s resignation, which will take effect next month according to CNBC, is because the president-elect has not yet appointed a new scientific adviser for the federal government’s vaccine implantation program, which has so far seen just over 9 million. of Americans receiving the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Representatives from Biden’s transition team did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.
The president-elect has appointed business executive and former nominee from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Jeffrey Zients to oversee his response to COVID-19, while Kaiser Permanente chief health officer Bechara Chouchair is the vaccine coordinator for Biden.
Slaoui previously indicated that he would step down as soon as two vaccines for COVID-19 hit the market, a milestone that was reached last month. He told Politico last week that he extended his plans to stay until Biden’s team no longer needed his help.
“I decided to extend this to ensure that the operation continues to function the way it did during the transition from administration,” Slaoui told the media.
An official on the Biden transition team also told Politico that Slaoui would stay temporarily “to ensure the continuity of the work that has already been done and to ensure a smooth process”.
General Gustave Perna told the news agency during the same conversation that Biden’s team did not ask him to relinquish oversight of the country’s vaccine distribution efforts.
“I signed up, I’m here until my part of the mission ends or tell me otherwise,” he said.