Behind the Mask: Dr. Danny Avula

Meet Virginia’s version of Dr. Anthony Fauci, vaccine czar Dr. Danny Avula, whose job as director of the Richmond City Health District and Henrico County Health Department also includes being an on-call health expert, a CEO overseeing a 250-member team of preventive specialists and the region’s chief community health strategist.

In January, Avula took a leave of absence from the director’s desk, jumping from the regional frying pan into a bigger, hotter statewide fire. He became the commonwealth’s “vaccination czar,” tapped by Gov. Ralph Northam to lead Virginia’s effort in distributing COVID-19 vaccines. “He knows how to get things done,” Northam said at the press conference where he announced the appointment.

My Richmond Magazine feature profile of Dr. Avula is now available at the magazine's website. Click here to read "Behind the Mask."