White House COVID-19 coordinator will depart from the Biden administration at the end of the month

White House COVID-19 Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha is set to depart from the Biden administration at the end of this month.

“I extend my deepest thanks to Ashish and his family. We are a stronger and healthier nation because of his contributions to public service," President Joe Biden said Thursday in response to the departure. 

“When I took office, our nation was facing a once-in-a generation pandemic, hit with a virus that changed everything. Thanks to my administration’s whole-of-government approach, we now have the tools to manage COVID-19 and the virus no longer controls our daily lives," he added. 

Jha joined the administration in April 2022, replacing Jeffrey D. Zients who was Biden’s first Covid coordinator and is currently the president’s chief of staff.

Jha is set to return to his previous job as dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, according to The New York Times. 

Last month, the Biden administration formally ended the public health emergency that was put in place during the 2020 pandemic. 

The COVID-19 response team is also being closed down by the Biden administration, which was led by Dr. Jha.