"Jeff [Zients] spent the last 14 months working tirelessly to help combat COVID. He is a man of service and an expert manager. I will miss his counsel and I’m grateful for his service," Biden said in a statement.
Under Zients’ management, the White House COVID-19 response team made a great job, which allowed the United States to vaccinate most of the population and achieve other important milestones, the president added.
"Today, almost 80% of adults are fully vaccinated; over 100 million are boosted; virtually every school is open; and hundreds of millions of at-home tests are distributed every month. In addition, the US leads the global effort to fight COVID, delivering more free vaccines to other countries than every other nation on Earth," he said.
A lot of work has yet to be done, Biden noted, stressing the need to continue vaccination, improve schools and workplaces in order to maintain health safety, and provide more COVID-19 tests and masks, along with finding new methods of treatment.
"To lead this effort, I am excited to name Dr. Ashish Jha as the new White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator," Biden said.
He expressed confidence that Jha, one of the leading public health experts in America, is the perfect person to continue progress in fighting COVID-19.