Perna Retiring From Covid Task Force as U.S. Response Shifts

U.S. Army General Gustave Perna, a top official in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout in both the Trump and Biden administrations, is set to retire July 2.

Robert Johnson, an official at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, will serve as interim chief operating officer for the pandemic effort, according to Jeffrey Zients, President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 coordinator.

Perna has “been helping lead our nation through a war he probably did not envision when he joined the army in 1981,” Zients said in an interview. “He’s been a key driver of the success that we’ve had.”

General Gustave Perna

Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg