Dr. Rachel Levine became a familiar figure to many Pennsylvanians over the last 10 months of the coronavirus pandemic, explaining what the state was doing to combat the spread of the virus and begging residents to do their part by wearing a mask, washing their hands and staying away from each other. Levine, one of the few transgender people nationwide serving in either elective office or as a high-ranking government appointee, was announced Tuesday as President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to be assistant secretary of health. She leaves the Pennsylvania Department of Health at a critical time in the statewide response to the pandemic, with the state reporting hundreds of deaths per day and officials struggling to ramp up statewide distribution of the two COVID-19 vaccines amid fluctuating allocations from the federal government.