Rick Bright, a former top scientist at the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department who sounded the alarm on the Trump administration’s politicization of COVID-19 treatment and who now serves as one of President-elect Joe Biden’s experts on the pandemic, called on the administration to stop disrupting the transition process on Tuesday.
During an appearance on “Good Morning America,” Bright emphasized the urgency of the Trump administration sharing its data and resources on distributing the COVID-19 vaccine with the Biden transition team.
“Lives are at stake here,” Bright said. “If we miss this opportunity to coordinate now, we could experience hiccups or delays that really we don’t need to see.”
“Americans deserve a smooth transition so we can make sure to save their lives from this pandemic,” he added.
In May, Bright blew the whistle after he was demoted from his post as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), alleging that the demotion was retaliation for rejecting hydroxychloroquine, Trump’s miracle drug, as treatment for the virus.
Bright resigned in October after being “sidelined from doing any further work” on the pandemic, per his attorneys, and joined Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board shortly after the Democrat won the election.
Watch Bright below:
“Americans deserve a smooth transition so we can make sure to save their lives from this pandemic.”
Dr. Rick Bright, now a member of Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force, discusses problems caused by Trump’s transition process and new vaccine learnings. https://t.co/boBxYhYmCA pic.twitter.com/tnjMhEmvxH
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 17, 2020
