CDC officials reportedly excited about Biden transition: ‘This is what we’ve been waiting for’

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials are reportedly expressing relief that a formal transition to the Biden administration is now underway.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for is for them to send their landing team here and set up shop,” a senior CDC official told CNN.

The official said the agency is hoping to resume regular coronavirus briefings next year after the Trump administration halted them. The CDC has still maintained its contact with state officials on logistics for distributing an eventual COVID-19 vaccine.

The official said “the CDC benefits when [contact with an incoming administration] happens quickly” but did not say whether agency officials had been in direct contact with anyone on the Biden team.

The Hill has reached out to the Biden transition team and the CDC for comment.

More than two weeks after The Associated Press and all major networks called the race for President-elect Joe Biden, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced Monday night that President Trump had formally authorized it to begin the transition.

“As the Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration, I have the ability under the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, as amended, to make certain post-election resources and services available to assist in the event of a presidential transition,” GSA Administrator Emily Murphy wrote Monday.

“I take this role seriously and, because of recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results, am transmitting this letter today to make those resources and services available to you,” she added.

The Trump campaign continues to mount long-shot legal challenges in key battleground states won by Biden. Allegations of widespread voter fraud have not been substantiated with hard evidence.

When Biden takes office on Jan. 20, the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be around the peak of a third wave. A recent model from Washington University in St. Louis predicts that the number of U.S. coronavirus cases could nearly double by Inauguration Day.