Health Secretary Defends Biden’s Covid Vaccine Order and Social Media Efforts

Xavier Becerra, the man chosen by President Biden to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, does not want to talk about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the man chosen by President-elect Donald J. Trump to “tolerate” his reforms. . He also had no regrets about the pandemic policies that helped increase the likelihood of his successor.

In a widely circulated interview last week, Mr Becerra said Mr Biden’s coronavirus vaccine, for federal workers, health workers and large employers, was “very safe”. “Should we require people to wear seat belts?” he asked.

That argument – that the government has the right to intrude on personal liberties when the health of its citizens is at risk – was lost in last year’s election. As a presidential candidate, Mr. Kennedy campaigned aggressively against vaccine deregulation; the Supreme Court blocked the main employer’s conclusion. The department of Mr. Mr. Kennedy has also been criticized for his efforts to curb misinformation on social media. Voters were enthusiastic when he merged his campaign with Mr Trump’s.

On Friday, Mr. Becerra made his farewell speech in Washington, announcing that Medicare, the government’s insurance program, would negotiate lower prices for weight-loss drugs. blockbusters Ozempic and Wegovy, and over 20 prescription drugs. In a press conference, Mr. Becerra called the deal “important.”

But in the interview, he acknowledged that voters have not rewarded Mr. Biden, or Vice President Kamala Harris, for their administration’s achievements on health care, including lowering the cost of medicine; expanding the number of Americans with health insurance; start a suicide prevention hotline; and taking steps to protect abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

“People are focusing on what they need – their families, their jobs, progress,” he said, reflecting on the election. “He saw the price of eggs. They see the price of gas. He didn’t like it.”

Sitting at a long wooden conference table in his eighth-floor office overlooking the Capitol, Mr. Becerra looked calm and composed. A former congressman and California attorney general, he was also the nation’s first Latino health secretary. He said he planned to return to his home state – and said he might run for governor.

He did not mention Mr. Kennedy by name, but warned those in his seat.

“If they go against the science, whether it’s about vaccines or public health value or reaching communities that have been underserved for a long time, I think the consequences will be very clear,” Mr. Becerra added. , “We’re going to have more unnecessary deaths, we’re going to have more disease.”

Mr. Becerra did not take his role as health secretary lightly; He cut a less conventional figure than some of his predecessors. Other health officials, especially Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who is set to retire in 2022, has often covered it — and has become a Republican target in the process.

Mr. Becerra strongly advised against granting Dr. Fauci Mr. Biden, who has come under attack from Republicans and a nonsensical book written by Mr. Kennedy. Speaking as a former attorney general, Mr. Becerra said the pardon process should not be used “to pander to the whims of anyone in the White House.”

As for Mr. Kennedy’s newly adopted slogan — “Make America Healthy Again” — Mr. Becerra said the country is healthier now than it was under Trump. He noted that on the day Mr. Biden took office, more than 4,000 Americans died from Covid-19.

“It’s like 10 jumbo jets coming down a day,” Mr. Becerra said. “So when people ask me, at least when it comes to health care, ‘Are we better off now than we were four years ago?’ completely. ‘Are we a stronger and healthier nation?’ completely.”

But in one respect—American food—Mr. Mr. Kennedy Becerra, who opposed the agriculture industry and highly processed foods. Mr. Becerra said his department is working to address this issue through the Food Is Medicine program, aimed at reducing chronic food-related illnesses.

“We eat more processed food than any other country per capita,” Mr. Becerra said. “I think we think of Big Macs as food. We put more salt in our diet than in Europe. So you buy a bag of Lay’s chips here for the same price, and it’s about two-thirds of the salt in Europe. So we need to do many things to be healthier, including eating better. “

In some ways, Mr. Becerra may be the right health secretary at the wrong time. His strong suit is health care affordability and access; he helped write the Affordable Care Act while in Congress. As attorney general, he sued the Trump administration more than 100 times over the implementation of the law, which created the insurance program known as Obamacare. Enrollment in the program nearly doubled during his tenure.

He is also a strong supporter of abortion rights. He is a father of three grown daughters, and his wife is an obstetrician and gynecologist who deals with high-risk patients. On the day Roe was overturned, Mr. Becerra was at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Missouri, where abortions were immediately stopped.

But Mr. Becerra has come to be defined by the crises he inherited: a surge of homeless children across the country’s southern border, and the coronavirus pandemic, which has already killed half a million Americans by when he took office in March 2021.

His early career was tough. His department is responsible for hosting migrant children, whose emergency shelters — cold, detention-like facilities — have become an embarrassment to Mr. Biden. Mr. Becerra took most of the blame. The response to Covid-19 was spent in the White House. Mr. Becerra is rarely seen. Mr. Becerra said that the arrangement was made when he was confirmed by the Senate.

He also admitted that he has faced challenges, especially eliminating misinformation on social media. He is very disappointed that Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has decided to stop monitoring the situation in social media.

“That’s the world we’re coming to, isn’t it?” Mr. Becerra asked. “Now you understand why it is difficult to convince people to get vaccinated” He also said: “I don’t have the budget, like pharmaceutical companies, to advertise what I do or to fight against defamation. It’s very troubling, and it’s sad.”

To critics who say he is an absentee leader, Mr Becerra says he has simply kept his head, working to “implement” policy on a range of issues beyond Covid-19, including the cost of prescription drugs and the protection of abortion rights.

“He did not leave a profound legacy of leadership on the big questions,” said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Institute at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “There’s been a lot of reform that’s happened through the leadership of the White House and the legislative movement and he’s part of that, of course, and he deserves credit, but I don’t think he’s the spearhead. He’s a little quiet about it.” leadership.”

But Dr. David Kessler, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration who oversaw the Biden administration’s distribution of the Covid vaccine, said Mr. Becerra’s input, which was often not reported by the press, was important. and the people.

He became “a very strong advocate for the president’s progressive health care program,” said Dr. Kessler. “One person will not even survive. It was very hard, very rocky, it was not his creation.”

Mr. Becerra is worried about his future in electoral politics. California’s 2026 governor’s race will be wide open, with a tight Democratic field that could include high-profile candidates like Ms. Harris and former congresswoman Katie Porter. Mr. Becerra was dismissive when asked about his plans.

“Ask me after the 20th,” he said, referring to Mr Trump’s inauguration day. He smiled.