Latest Breaking News
Showing Original Post only (View all)Special Report: HHS chief Azar had aide, former dog breeder, steer pandemic task force [View all]
Source: Reuters
As is now widely known, two agencies Azar oversaw as HHS secretary, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, wouldnt come up with viable tests for five and half weeks, even as other countries and the World Health Organization had already prepared their own.
Shortly after his televised comments, Azar tapped a trusted aide with minimal public health experience to lead the agencys day-to-day response to COVID-19. The aide, Brian Harrison, had joined the department after running a dog-breeding business for six years. Five sources say some officials in the White House derisively called him the dog breeder.
Azars optimistic public pronouncement and choice of an inexperienced manager are emblematic of his agencys oft-troubled response to the crisis. His HHS is a behemoth department, overseeing almost every federal public health agency in the country, with a $1.3 trillion budget that exceeds the gross national product of most countries.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-hhschief-speci/special-report-hhs-chief-azar-had-aide-former-dog-breeder-steer-pandemic-task-force-idUSKCN2243CE
And I thought his dumpy boss didn't even like dogs.
Also from the article:
We developed a diagnostic test at the CDC, so we can confirm if somebody has this, Azar said. We will be spreading that diagnostic around the country so that we are able to do rapid testing on site.
While coronavirus in Wuhan, China, was potentially serious, Azar assured viewers in America, it was one for which we have a playbook.
Azars initial comments misfired on two fronts. Like many U.S. officials, from President Donald Trump on down, he underestimated the pandemics severity. He also overestimated his agencys preparedness.
Azars optimistic public pronouncement and choice of an inexperienced manager are emblematic of his agencys oft-troubled response to the crisis. His HHS is a behemoth department, overseeing almost every federal public health agency in the country, with a $1.3 trillion budget that exceeds the gross national product of most countries.