In the face of the worst global pandemic since COVID-19 reared its ugly head two and a half years ago, President Joe Biden – who has now twice lost the fight against COVID-19 – has named a new czar to lead the nation’s response against the primarily skin-to-skin transmission virus known as monkeypox.
Although the World Health Organization declared the disease a worldwide emergency, it has primarily affected gay men involved in orgies.
The U.N. agency declined last month to declare a global emergency in response to monkeypox. However, infections have been on the rise for the last few weeks and Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus (WHO Director General) issued the most severe alert.
Joe Biden’s new czar, a title which sounds like an end-run around the democracy Democrats have long claimed they want to save, is Robert Fenton. Fenton serves as the FEMA’s regional administrator.
“We simply wouldn’t be where we are today in our nation’s fight against COVID-19 without the expertise and leadership of Bob Fenton,” Jeff Zients, the former White House coronavirus response coordinator, said as part of Fenton’s recognition. “He became an indispensable leader in the whole-of-government response — contributing to a historic, nationwide vaccination program.”
Demetre Daskalakis is also being considered by the White House as Fenton’s top deputy. Daskalakis, a physician who previously served as a New York City health official, had helped lead the CDC’s HIV/AIDS work and has been involved in the federal response to monkeypox. Once profiled by the Atlantic magazine as “New York City’s ‘Gay Health Warrior’,” Daskalakis has also spent weeks publicly warning about the risks of monkeypox to men who have sex with men, as the virus predominantly spreads in that community.
“Fenton and Daskalakis will lead the Administration’s strategy and operations to combat the current monkeypox outbreak, including equitably increasing the availability of tests, vaccinations and treatments,” according to the planned announcement, obtained by The Washington Post.
The monkeypox virus outbreaks we’ve seen appear to have originated after symptomatic men attended orgies and picked up the virus. It has since spread worldwide to thousands, killing five people according to WHO data in July. India has confirmed the death of one victim.
This crisis is urgently requiring that the Biden Administration get on board with this program. If he’d waited, he might have come under fire for hypocrisy following his 2020 campaign criticism of Donald Trump’s inability to react quickly enough to COVID-19.
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