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President Biden chose Dr. Paul Friedrichs, a military combat surgeon and retired Air Force major general who helped lead the Covid-19 response at the Pentagon, to lead a new White House office created by Congress to prepare for and manage future biological threats.
The White House said it would announce the appointment on Friday and that it would take effect on August 7. It will then fall to Dr. Friedrichs to set up the new office, the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, though the administration has christened it with a shorter Washington acronym: OPPR.
The appointment comes after a lengthy search for a director ended where it began: at the White House, where Dr. Friedrichs recently joined the staff of the National Security Council as senior director for global health security and biodefense. Prior to that, he served as a Joint Chiefs Surgeon at the Pentagon, providing medical advice to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Your planned selection was reported last week by The Washington Post.
Why it matters: Future health threats loom.
The coronavirus pandemic has often been described as the worst public health crisis in a century. But experts agree that given current migration patterns and the way humans interbreed with animal life, it won’t be a century, and perhaps not even a decade, before the next pandemic hits.
The era of the Covid “czars” is over. Mr. Biden’s first White House coronavirus response coordinator, Jeffrey D. Zients, is now the White House chief of staff. The second coordinator, Dr. Ashish K. Jha, has returned to his position as dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. Mr Zients praised Dr Friedrichs for his work on the pandemic, saying he would “lead the charge to ensure that never happens again.”
Covid-19 made it clear that a biological threat to health does not respect boundaries, including boundaries that divide federal agencies. The appointment of Dr. Friedrichs signals a more permanent and coordinated effort to prepare for and respond to pandemics, one that will last beyond the Biden administration and be centralized within the White House.
Background: Dr. Friedrichs served decades in the Air Force.
in a february speech, Dr. Friedrichs reflected on his 37-year career in the Air Force and shared a little about himself. His father served in the Navy at the end of World War II and his mother was a Hungarian freedom fighter whose parents were killed by the Russians. His wife was an army medic when they met.
He also reflected on the role of the military in the fight against covid-19, an effort that included helping to develop and distribute vaccines and providing medical support to struggling hospitals. “The military health system became the pinch hitter that stepped in to help our civilian partners as we collectively fought to get through this pandemic,” she said.
Whats Next: The work will focus on preparation.
Dr. Friedrich’s new position gives him authority to oversee national biosecurity preparedness. He will have to work on developing next-generation vaccines, ensuring adequate supplies in the Strategic National Stockpile, and increasing surveillance for new biological threats. He will also have to work with Congress to secure funding for preparedness efforts.