Before naming any White House staff or cabinet appointments, Biden announced that he would appoint a COVID-19 task force, co-chaired by former Surgeon General
Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner
David Kessler and Yale University epidemiologist Professor
Marcella Nunez-Smith. In November 2020, he announced the names of 13 health experts to serve on the COVID-19 Advisory Board. Biden pledged a more and larger federal government response to
the pandemic than
Donald Trump, akin to President
Franklin D. Roosevelt's
New Deal during the
Great Depression. This would include increased testing for
SARS-CoV-2, a steady supply of
personal protective equipment, distributing a vaccine and securing money from Congress for schools and hospitals under the aegis of a national "supply chain commander" who would coordinate the logistics of manufacturing and distributing protective gear and test kits. This would be distributed by a "Pandemic Testing Board", also similar to Roosevelt's
War Production Board during
World War II. Civil servant and political advisor, Natalie Quillian, will serve as Deputy Coronavirus Response Coordinator. ==Succession==