Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and a leader in the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, will join President-elect Joe Biden's administration.
Biden told CNN on Thursday that he asked Fauci to become his chief medical adviser and part of his COVID-19 response team. On Friday, Fauci told NBC's "Today" he accepted the position.
"Oh, absolutely. I said yes right on the spot," Fauci said when asked if he'd taken the role.
"There are few public servants in our history who have served as long and as well and with as much distinction at (sic) Dr. Tony Fauci. It will be a great honor to work with him again," he wrote.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been a top official dealing with the pandemic. But President Donald Trump sidelined him at points during the year after Fauci’s stark warnings about the importance of wearing masks, social distancing and halting large-scale gatherings.
"I asked him to stay on the exact same role he's had for the past several presidents, and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well, and be part of the Covid team," Biden said.
Fauci had told CBS News that he would meet Thursday Biden’s transition team to discuss the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
"I'm going to be meeting with them today, by Zoom," Fauci told CBS News.
"So today will be the first day where there will be substantive discussions about the transition between me and the Biden team," Fauci added. "I'm very pleased that today we're having the first discussion about a number of things, vaccinations and things like that."
The meeting comes after more than 273,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and nearly 14 million have been infected, according to Johns Hopkins University. T... (Read more)
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Submitted 1210 days ago
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