Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert who has become a household name – and the subject of partisan attacks – during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Monday that he will leave the US federal government in December after more than five decades of service.
Fauci, who serves as President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief of the NIAID Laboratory for Immunological Regulation. He has been a pioneer in the federal response to HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases even before the coronavirus hit.
“I will be leaving these positions in December of this year to pursue the next chapter of my career,” Fauci, 81, said in a statement, describing those roles as “the honor of a lifetime.”
Fauci became the face of the government’s response to COVID-19 when it emerged in early 2020, with frequent appearances on television news and in daily press conferences with White House officials, including then-President Donald Trump. But as the pandemic worsened, Fauci took no credit with Trump and his officials when his calls for continued public caution clashed with the former president’s desire to return to normal life and promote unproven treatments for the virus.
Fauci has found himself sidelined by the Trump administration, and increasingly away from key decisions about the federal response, but he has continued to speak out in media interviews, calling for physical distancing and face coverings in public before COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out.
He was also subjected to political attacks and death threats, and was given a security guard to protect him.
When Biden won the White House, he asked Fauci to stay in his administration in high capacity. The President praised Fauci in a statement, saying, “Whether I meet him in person or not, he has impacted the lives of all Americans with his work. I sincerely thank him for his public service. The United States of America is stronger, more resilient and healthier because of him.”
Fauci said that while he has retired from federal service, he plans to continue working. “I want to use what I’ve learned as a director of NIAID to further advance science and public health and to inspire and guide the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world for future infectious disease threats,” he said.
listen | Anthony Fauci speaking to CBC Present On lessons learned:
Present20:50Dr. Anthony Fauci talks about lessons learned from COVID-19, HIV/AIDS and Capricorn monkeys
We talk to Dr. Anthony Fauci about the COVID-19 pandemic, the lessons he’s learned from the fight against HIV/AIDS, and what the world must do to control the increasing cases of monkeypox.
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