CDC Official Says The Agency Is Ready For Biden Transition: ‘This Is What We’ve Been Waiting For’

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are expressing relief and excitement now that the Biden transition is officially underway.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for is for them to send their landing team here and set up shop,” a senior CDC official told The Hill Tuesday.

The official added that the agency is hoping to resume coronavirus briefings next year and has kept in touch with state health officials on the logistics for distributing an eventual COVID-19 vaccine. The official also told CNN that there will be some “rebuilding of the agency” under the new administration but that is not unexpected.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the CDC held daily briefings, but as the virus raged on, President Trump began to criticize the agency and eventually stripped its control of data on the pandemic. In June, he ordered hospitals to bypass sending data on the pandemic to the CDC.

Now, the agency is excited the Biden administration is trying to help solve the pandemic while President Trump has told Americans not to let the virus dictate your life.

CDC officials at the agency declined to say whether they’ve made contact with the Biden administration, but when asked if there was enthusiasm among the senior leadership at the CDC due to the transition process beginning, the official said yes.

“The CDC benefits when [contact with an incoming administration] happens quickly,” the official said to The Hill.

The coronavirus has taken more than 230,000 American lives along with jobs, homes, cars, and other possessions. With the government now dealing with the transition, Americans can expect to be without any government support for about another two months, but at the end of January, they can expect something they haven’t seen in several years, a government that cares about people, not headlines.