White House officials are considering replacing health secretary Alex Azar over his botched coronavirus response, reports suggest

President Donald Trump's administration is considering replacing its secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, 52, because of early missteps in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the Wall Street Journal and Politico reported on Saturday.

The Journal, which cited six people familiar with the discussions, said frustration with Azar was growing but the administration was reluctant to make big changes while the country was seeking to stop the virus, which causes the respiratory disease COVID-19 and has killed more than 53,000 people in the United States.

A White House spokesman, Judd Deere, denied it and said the HHS under Azar continues to lead on a number of the president's priorities.

White House officials are discussing plans to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar

'Any speculation about personnel is irresponsible and a distraction from our whole-of-government response to COVID-19,' Deere said adding there was no plan to replace Azar and called talk of replacing him.

Politico said the short list of names to replace Azar included Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus coordinator; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Seema Verma and deputy HHS Secretary Eric Hargan. 

Asked for a response, HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said: 'Secretary Azar is busy responding to a global, public health crisis and doesn't have time for palace intrigue.' 

There have been frustrations with the health chief as the response to the Covid-19 outbreak. 

This week alone, White House aides are said to been angered at the ousting of vaccine expert Rick Bright.  

Azar attempted to assure Vice President Mike Pence that Bright had been moved to the National Institutes of Health as part of a promotion.

But Bright has a different interpretation of events and said he will soon be filing a whistleblower complaint. 

White House officials have laid blame for chaos at the Health department at Azar's feet.

In January, media reports suggested that Azar had urged Trump to act on the impending coronavirus outbreak only for his warnings to be dismissed as alarmist.  

Azar has flatly denied such reports insisting that Trump 'never once rejected, turned down or dismissed a recommendation' of his or the task force.

Since being replaced as head of the coronavirus response on February 26, Azar has barely appeared at the daily press briefings on the coronavirus response.

Azar assured Americans the U.S. government was prepared.

'We developed a diagnostic test at the CDC, so we can confirm if somebody has this,' Azar said. 'We will be spreading that diagnostic around the country so that we are able to do rapid testing on site.'

While coronavirus in Wuhan, China, was 'potentially serious,' Azar assured viewers in America, it 'was one for which we have a playbook.'

Azar's initial comments misfired on two fronts. Like many U.S. officials, from President Donald Trump on down, he underestimated the pandemic's severity. He also overestimated his agency's preparedness.

Azar assured Americans the U.S. government was prepared.

'We developed a diagnostic test at the CDC, so we can confirm if somebody has this,' Azar said. 'We will be spreading that diagnostic around the country so that we are able to do rapid testing on site.'

While coronavirus in Wuhan, China, was 'potentially serious,' Azar assured viewers in America, it 'was one for which we have a playbook.'

Azar's initial comments misfired on two fronts. Like many U.S. officials, from President Donald Trump on down, he underestimated the pandemic's severity. He also overestimated his agency's preparedness.

A promised virus surveillance program failed to take root, despite assurances Azar gave to Congress.

Rather than share information, three current and three former government officials told Reuters, Azar and top staff sidelined key agencies that could have played a higher-profile role in addressing the pandemic.

'It was a mess,' said a White House official who worked with HHS.

Officials across the government, from President Trump on down, have been blasted for America's halting response to the pandemic. Critics inside and outside the administration say a meaningful share of the responsibility lies with HHS and Trump appointee Azar.

'You have to blame the problem on the virus, but it's Azar's operation,' said Lynn Goldman, the dean of the public health school at George Washington University, who has served on advisory boards of the FDA and CDC. 'And the buck stops there.'