Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 14 / Monday, January 25, 2021 / Presidential Documents 7019 

Executive Order 13987 of January 20, 2021 

Organizing and Mobilizing the United States Government To 

Provide a Unified and Effective Response To Combat COVID– 

19 and To Provide United States Leadership on Global 

Health and Security 

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: 

Section 1. Purpose. The Federal Government must act swiftly and aggressively 

to combat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19). To that end, this order 

creates the position of Coordinator of the COVID–19 Response and Counselor 

to the President and takes other steps to organize the White House and 

activities of the Federal Government to combat COVID–19 and prepare for 

future biological and pandemic threats. 

Sec. 2. Organizing the White House to Combat COVID–19. (a) In order 

to effectively, fully, and immediately respond to COVID–19, there is established within the Executive Office of the President the position of Coordinator 

of the COVID–19 Response and Counselor to the President (COVID–19 Response Coordinator) and the position of Deputy Coordinator of the COVID– 

19 Response. The COVID–19 Response Coordinator shall report directly 

to the President; advise and assist the President and executive departments 

and agencies (agencies) in responding to the COVID–19 pandemic; coordinate 

all elements of the COVID–19 response; and perform such duties as the 

President may otherwise direct. These duties shall include: 

(i) coordinating a Government-wide effort to reduce disparities in the 

response, care, and treatment of COVID–19, including racial and ethnic 

disparities; 

(ii) coordinating the Federal Government’s efforts to produce, supply, and 

distribute personal protective equipment, vaccines, tests, and other supplies 

for the Nation’s COVID–19 response, including through the use of the 

Defense Production Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.); 

(iii) coordinating the Federal Government’s efforts to expand COVID–19 

testing and the use of testing as an effective public health response; 

(iv) coordinating the Federal Government’s efforts to support the timely, 

safe, and effective delivery of COVID–19 vaccines to the United States 

population; 

(v) coordinating the Federal Government’s efforts to support the safe reopening and operation of schools, child care providers, and Head Start 

programs, and to help ensure the continuity of educational and other 

services for young children and elementary and secondary students during 

the COVID–19 pandemic; and 

(vi) coordinating, as appropriate, with State, local, Tribal, and territorial 

authorities. 

(b) The COVID–19 Response Coordinator shall have the authority to convene principals from relevant agencies, in consultation with the Assistant 

to the President for Domestic Policy (APDP) on matters involving the domestic COVID–19 response, and in consultation with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA) on matters involving the global 

COVID–19 response. The COVID–19 Response Coordinator shall also coordinate any corresponding deputies and interagency processes. 


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(c) The COVID–19 Response Coordinator may act through designees in 

performing these or any other duties. 

Sec. 3. United States Leadership on Global Health and Security and the 

Global COVID–19 Response. 

(a) Preparing to Respond to Biological Threats and Pandemics. To identify, 

monitor, prepare for, and, if necessary, respond to emerging biological and 

pandemic threats: 

(i) The APNSA shall convene the National Security Council (NSC) Principals Committee as necessary to coordinate the Federal Government’s 

efforts to address such threats and to advise the President on the global 

response to and recovery from COVID–19, including matters regarding: 

the intersection of the COVID–19 response and other national security 

equities; global health security; engaging with and strengthening the World 

Health Organization; public health, access to healthcare, and the secondary 

impacts of COVID–19; and emerging biological risks and threats, whether 

naturally occurring, deliberate, or accidental. 

(ii) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the APNSA shall, in coordination with relevant agencies, the COVID–19 Response Coordinator, and 

the APDP, complete a review of and recommend actions to the President 

concerning emerging domestic and global biological risks and national 

biopreparedness policies. The review and recommended actions shall incorporate lessons from the COVID–19 pandemic and, among other things, 

address: the readiness of the pandemic supply chain, healthcare workforce, 

and hospitals; the development of a framework of pandemic readiness 

with specific triggers for when agencies should take action in response 

to large-scale biological events; pandemic border readiness; the development and distribution of medical countermeasures; epidemic forecasting 

and modeling; public health data modernization; bio-related intelligence; 

bioeconomic investments; biotechnology risks; the development of a framework for coordinating with and distributing responsibilities as between 

the Federal Government and State, local, Tribal, and territorial authorities; 

and State, local, Tribal, and territorial preparedness for biological events. 

(b) NSC Directorate on Global Health Security and Biodefense. There 

shall be an NSC Directorate on Global Health Security and Biodefense, 

which shall be headed by a Senior Director for Global Health Security 

and Biodefense. The Senior Director shall be responsible for monitoring 

current and emerging biological threats, and shall report concurrently to 

the APNSA and to the COVID–19 Response Coordinator on matters relating 

to COVID–19. The Senior Director shall oversee the Global Health Security 

Agenda Interagency Review Council, which was established pursuant to 

Executive Order 13747 of November 4, 2016 (Advancing the Global Health 

Security Agenda To Achieve a World Safe and Secure From Infectious 

Disease Threats), and is hereby reconvened as described in that order. 

(c) Responsibility for National Biodefense Preparedness. Notwithstanding 

any statements in the National Security Presidential Memorandum–14 of 

September 18, 2018 (Support for National Biodefense), the APNSA shall 

be responsible for coordinating the Nation’s biodefense preparedness efforts, 

and, as stated in sections 1 and 2 of this order, the COVID–19 Response 

Coordinator shall be responsible for coordinating the Federal Government’s 

response to the COVID–19 pandemic. 

Sec. 4. Prompt Resolution of Issues Related to the United States COVID– 

19 Response. The heads of agencies shall, as soon as practicable, bring 

any procedural, departmental, legal, or funding obstacle to the COVID– 

19 response to the attention of the COVID–19 Response Coordinator. The 

COVID–19 Response Coordinator shall, in coordination with relevant agencies, the APDP, and the APNSA, as appropriate, immediately bring to the 

President’s attention any issues that require Presidential guidance or decisionmaking. 

Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed 

to impair or otherwise affect: 


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(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, 

or the head thereof; or 

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. 

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and 

subject to availability of appropriations. 

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, 

substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party 

against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, 

employees, or agents, or any other person. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

January 20, 2021. 

[FR Doc. 2021–01759 

Filed 1–22–21; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3295–F1–P 


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