President Joe Biden has appointed a new team to lead the US response to monkeypox following declarations of emergency by California and Illinois and mounting criticism of the administration’s response to the outbreak.
The White House team, appointed on Tuesday, will be led by Robert Fenton, an administrator at the Federal Emergency and Management Agency. It will work with state authorities to increase equitable access to testing, vaccines and treatments for the virus, the White House said in a statement.
“This team will allow the Biden administration to further accelerate and strengthen its monkeypox response,” said Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser.