Discussions are underway about winding down the work of the Coronavirus Task Force, Vice President Mike Pence told reporters Tuesday, even as the number of deaths and new cases continue to mount, generally plateauing but not declining, as states begin to reopen. The administration’s work on testing and bolstering the national stockpile will continue, Pence said, with some of that work being moved back to agencies.
Pence, the head of the task force, told reporters in an off-camera briefing Tuesday that “conversations are being had about winding down the work for the task force,” and the White House is looking at a possible Memorial Day “window.”
The news comes as the U.S. reaches a grim milestone of 70,000 deaths, more than what the White House had projected through August using one model just weeks ago.
But the vice president’s announcement apparently had not reached Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious diseases expert who has become one of the most prominent figures on the task force. Fauci told CBS News only moments before Pence spoke that he had just been at a task force meeting, and no one had said anything to him about disbanding the task force.
“That’s not true, I’ve been in every task force meeting, and that’s not what they are doing,” Fauci said earlier Tuesday.
Pence said doctors like Dr. Deborah Birx will remain working closely with the White House.
The New York Times first reported the likely disbanding of the task force.
It’s unclear whether another type of task force will replace this one, which was established in late January to fight the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump has slowed his daily Coronavirus Task Force briefings, a shift which occurred soon after he floated the possibility of investigating injecting coronavirus patients with disinfectant to cure the virus.
The president, according to reporters’ meeting with Pence, wants 100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by fall, a much quicker timeline than most experts think is possible, and 300 million by January. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that would be “unprecedented and historic,” but also “realistic.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
