By Hector Carrillo, December 28, 2020, The Philadelphia Tribune.
As we head into the next chapter of an ongoing pandemic — one in which a vaccine will hopefully let us see a light at the end of the tunnel — we must be careful not to ease up on the precautionary measures that will keep us safe while we wait for immunity.
As infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said last month, "If you are fighting a battle and the cavalry is on the way, you don't stop shooting until the cavalry gets here."
Thankfully, the Biden-Harris transition team has already released an initial COVID-19 plan and named its own team in charge of the pandemic response, with Fauci serving as a chief medical adviser. However, these initial efforts are lacking in two significant ways.
Second, the expertise of the 16-member pandemic response team named by President-elect Joe Biden is impressive, but the group consists mainly of medical doctors (nine in total). Two members have a background in the world of public health and supervise health communication efforts, but the task force does not include a single member whose primary training and expertise is in the behavioral or social sciences, or in public health education or communication.
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