‘I grew up in Toronto’: Dr. Ashish Jha becomes Joe Biden’s COVID-19 co-ordinator

WASHINGTON—In May 2020, when the world was still trying to navigate the stay-at-home orders and hospital overloads of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, I reached out for expert opinion and naturally sent an inquiry to Dr. Ashish Jha, then of Harvard University’s Global Health Institute, one of the world’s most experienced experts on epidemics. Given his position, he was then fielding hundreds of media interview requests every day. But he got back to me quickly.

“I grew up in Toronto,” he said. “I love Toronto, so when I saw the Toronto Star, I was like, ‘absolutely.’”

Now the man who spent part of his childhood living in the University of Toronto student family housing residence at 30 Charles Street West is taking over as President Joe Biden’s coronavirus czar.

Beginning in April, Jha will become the White House COVID-19 co-ordinator, leading the American administration’s response to the evolving pandemic. He’ll take over from Jeff Zients, who has held the job for the past 14 months since the early days of Biden’s presidency.

“Dr. Jha is one of the leading public health experts in America, and a well-known figure to many Americans from his wise and calming public presence of him, ”Biden said in a statement announcing the change Thursday. “And as we enter a new moment in the pandemic — executing on my National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan and managing the ongoing risks from COVID — Dr. Jha is the perfect person for the job.”

Zients, a longtime business executive with a government background in the Office of Management and Budget and the Economic Council, was brought in to lead the response at a time when logistical challenges such as vaccine distribution and mask and testing availability were the priorities. The White House is indicating that at a time when the pandemic shifts into a potentially endemic phase (even as new variants threaten new waves of illness), Jha’s medical background and epidemiological expertise will be vital to the role.

Born in India in 1970, Jha moved to Toronto with his parents at age nine (“Was an immigrant kid … didn’t speak a word of English,” he you have noted, living in a student residence building where he says “generations of immigrant children had been raised”), before the family settled in New Jersey four years later. He went to medical school at Harvard — in part because his mother “really, really, really wanted one of her sons to be a doctor,” he has said — and has gone on to a career as one of the world’s foremost infectious disease experts. He was on the front lines of the Ebola epidemic, conducting what is routinely referred to as “groundbreaking” research, and in roles at Harvard and then at Brown University, where he was dean of the school of public health, has been among the most prominent American medical voices throughout the pandemic.

In his regular appearances on network and cable television news in the United States and interviews in major newspapers — but also in his public Twitter feed — Jha has been among the clearest and most accessible medical experts on the evolution of the pandemic, often breaking down the nuances of good news and bad signs, cutting through the absolutes of the polarized punditry. He has often used his family and life of him as examples of how people might make weight decisions and manage risks. I recall helpful Twitter explanations of his own holiday family gathering decisions and his nine-year-old son’s vaccination as particularly helpful.

Some are expecting that the shift from Zients, a management professional, to Dr. Jha might lead to more foresight on responses to new variants. But the New York Times notes Jha’s appointment represents a continuation of a policy that has persisted since former president Donald Trump was in office — keeping management of the pandemic in the White House instead of the health department.

Back when Trump began that practice with Dr. Deborah Birx heading up his COVID response, I asked Jha about it. The then-Harvard professor was gently critical of many elements of the government response, both federal and at the state level. But back then, I have pointed out that medical advisers can only do so much. “The White House guidelines now… they’re not perfect. But in general, the White House guidelines are solid and evidence based. And what’s really clear is that (then-president Trump) has not stuck with his own guidelines and has in fact encouraged people to behave in ways that contradict his own task force’s guidelines,” Jha said in May 2020. “I think if people stuck with the White House guidelines, the country would be better off.”

Not quite two years later, he’ll be the one in charge of the evolving White House guidelines. in to Twitter thread announcing his acceptance of the new job Thursday, Jha said he’d been impressed so far with Biden’s responsiveness to scientific evidence, and his approach to the job. “For a poor immigrant kid who left India not speaking a word of English, and found in America a nation willing to embrace me as one of her own, I am deeply honored for this chance to serve this country I love, and grateful to a president for the opportunity,” Jha wrote. “This is not the job of one person or even just the government. It is the job of all of us. And I’m excited to get started on my part.”