Vice President Pence Announces Ambassador Debbie Birx to Serve as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator

Vice President Mike Pence announced today that Ambassador Dr.Debbie Birx will serve as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, and will also join the Task Force led by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. She will be detailed to the Office of the Vice President and will report to Vice President Mike Pence and will be supported by the National Security Council staff.

Dr. Birx is a world-renowned global health official and physician who serves as the U.S. government’s leader for combatting infectious diseases globally. She has previously coordinated the Army, Navy, and Air Force in their infectious diseases efforts and other government infectious diseases programs. She will bring her expertise in coordinating across agencies that brought ground-breaking progress to the global pandemic to the Coronavirus response in the White House.

In announcing her appointment, the White House underscored that Ambassador Birx is a scientist, physician, and mom, with three decades of public health expertise, including virulent diseases, their vaccines, and interagency coordination. She has been utilizing the best science to change the course of an infectious disease pandemic and bring the pandemic under control, community by community and country by country.

Her focus over three decades has been on immunology, vaccine research, and global health. She has developed and patented vaccines, including leading one of the most influential infectious disease vaccine trials in history. Three different Administrations across both political parties have relied on her knowledge and judgement.