{"id":42699,"date":"2021-11-30T10:51:16","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T18:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=42699"},"modified":"2021-11-30T11:51:38","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T19:51:38","slug":"gayle-smiths-service-as-the-coordinator-for-global-covid-19-response-and-health-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=42699","title":{"rendered":"Gayle Smith\u2019s Service as the Coordinator for Global COVID-19 Response and Health Security"},"content":{"rendered":"
11\/30\/2021 09:45 AM EST<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State<\/p>\n

In April, I asked Gayle Smith to head the State Department\u2019s global COVID-19 response \u2013 which required her to take a leave of absence from her important work as President and CEO at the ONE Campaign.\u00a0 With her unparalleled experience, including helping to lead the U.S. response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014, I knew she could steer our global pandemic response and chart a successful path toward COVID-19 recovery.<\/p>\n

Eight months after asking Gayle to join the team, the United States has donated more than 260 million vaccine doses to more than 110 countries and economies worldwide \u2013 well on our way to fulfilling President Biden\u2019s commitment of 1.2 billion doses.\u00a0 We are the largest single-country donor to COVAX, and we have worked with governments, international organizations, and the private sector to get life-saving equipment where it is needed most.\u00a0 We have convened global leaders to ensure this is a worldwide effort, and we are investing in global health security to not only respond to this pandemic but prepare for the next one.\u00a0 Together, we have saved countless lives, and we will continue to do so thanks to Gayle\u2019s lasting contributions.<\/p>\n

As Gayle heads back to the ONE Campaign, she leaves behind a phenomenal set of accomplishments, a robust team and network who are prepared to carry our important work forward, and a comprehensive set of next steps to build on our progress.\u00a0\u00a0As Gayle has said many times, our work to defeat this pandemic and prevent future health threats is not over.\u00a0 We have important work ahead,\u00a0which is why\u00a0Mary Beth Goodman, a senior member of State\u2019s COVID team, and former Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for Global Development and Humanitarian Response, will serve as Acting Coordinator for Global COVID Response and Health Security.<\/p>\n

I am grateful for Gayle\u2019s leadership, vision, and service, and, most of all, for the life-saving accomplishments and legacy she leaves behind.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

11\/30\/2021 09:45 AM EST   Antony...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-u-s-a","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42700,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42699\/revisions\/42700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}