Experts Recommend Creating a New White House Position for Pandemic Response

The president should appoint a new deputy assistant to manage pandemic policies and communications, according to a new report. 

A group of 53 medical and policy experts -- some of whom served on the Biden administration’s Transition COVID Advisory Board and many of whom have served in the federal government under Democratic and Republican administrations -- released a massive report on Monday detailing preparations for living with COVID-19, responding to variants and mitigating future biosecurity threats. It notes that while the “virus appears to be on a path towards becoming endemic,” meaning a disease that is always present in a country and is more predictable, life will probably not return to pre-COVID-19 normal. 

“U.S. public health communications must be redesigned to reduce infection risk and regain public trust in the fast-moving, deeply polarized battle to promote the best health outcomes for Americans,” said the report. “A public health strategy must ensure truthful and effective government communications that promote healthy behavior and strengthen trust in government and its public health institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control.” 

In order to achieve this, the experts recommended that the White House appoint a deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs and biosecurity who would manage coordination of pandemic policy and prevention efforts as well as communications. This individual would be the “public facing federal official of a unified government response” in the event of a future pandemic or other biosecurity emergency and should chair a standing working group on public communication, among others. 

“As the next normal for this pandemic arrives, the deputy assistant should augment White House coordination with federal and state health officials,” said the report. “This working group, which should be at the assistant secretary level federally and the state health commissioner level (through regional state task forces), will ensure a successful cross-agency, multi-state biosecurity leadership group that works together regularly on strategy, budgeting, and preparation for rapid response with tabletop and field exercises.” 

According to the plan, the new deputy assistant would report to the National Security Advisor, and absorb the position and office for the current National Security Council senior director for global health security and biodefense. 

The recommendation is one of many aimed at improving the federal government’s communication on public health, which has been a challenge under the Trump and Biden administrations for different reasons. The report also has recommendations on data, the public health workforce, vaccines, data collection, personal protective equipment, long COVID and more. 

While acknowledging the authors are not budget analysts, the report estimates the policies and programs in the report would cost about $100 billion in the first year, about $30 billion in each of years two and three of implementation, and then between $10 and $15 billion annually thereafter. 

This report was released five days after the White House released its own new pandemic response and preparedness plan. Also, last week, the White House asked Congress for $22.5 billion in supplemental funds for fiscal 2022 “to cover immediate needs for tests, treatments and vaccines, investments in research and development of next-generation vaccines, and responding globally, including getting more shots in arms around the world.” Meanwhile, Republicans are pressing for a full accounting of COVID-19 relief before more funding is approved. 

Dr. Rick Bright, one of the authors who was a pandemic whistleblower during the Trump administration, tweeted on Monday that, “The White House & nation are on the right path forward. But much is needed to sustain the ‘next normal.’” Bright served on the Biden transition COVID-19 advisory board and is now CEO of the Pandemic Prevention Institute. 

Dr. Tom Inglesby, senior adviser to the White House's Covid-19 Response Team, told CNN on Monday, “I think it's pretty clear we share many of the same policies and proposals as this outside group -- so we're very encouraged by that.” He also noted that some of the authors from the report also helped the Biden administration develop its new plan.