United States President-elect, Joe Biden, has appointed a Nigeria-American, Osaremen Okolo, as his COVID Policy Advisor.
Okolo’s appointment comes weeks after another Nigerian-American, Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo, was announced as the assistant secretary of treasury designate.
Okolo, whose parents are from Edo State, is one of the coordinators for three crucial aspects of the COVID-19 response strategy: supply chain management, vaccinations, and testing, a statement from the Biden-Harris Transition Committee said.
Both Okolo and Adeyemo are amongst Biden’s first 100 White House appointees.
“Prior to joining the transition, Okolo served as Senior Health Policy Advisor to U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinois. Okolo drafted, negotiated, and managed the Congresswoman’s legislation, oversight, and policy across a comprehensive health care and public health agenda, most recently focusing almost exclusively on the COVID-19 pandemic,” the transition team said in a statement.
She had also served as Legislative Aide for Health Policy on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labour, and Pensions for Ranking Member Patty Murray of Washington, the team added.
Okolo, whose parents are reportedly from Edo State, was born and raised in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard College.
According to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, the COVID-19 Response Team will “work to quickly implement a comprehensive, whole-of-government COVID-19 response strategy to contain the pandemic, restore public trust, and protect all Americans”.
Biden is expected to be sworn-in on January 20, 2021.