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WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) – Anthony Fauci, a leading US infectious disease expert, said on Friday that he has accepted President-elect Joe Biden’s offer to be his top medical adviser.
“Oh, absolutely. I said yes on the spot,” Fauci told NBC’s “Today” in an interview.
The confirmation came a day after Biden revealed that he had asked Fauci to be his chief medical adviser and part of his administration’s COVID-19 response team.
“I asked him to stay in exactly the same position that he had during the past presidents,” Biden said in an interview with CNN on Thursday.
Fauci, who has served as director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, is also one of the most prominent members of the Donald Trump administration’s coronavirus task force.
Ron Klain, Biden’s new White House chief of staff and the White House Ebola response coordinator during the Barack Obama administration, tweeted Friday that “it will be a great honor” to work with Fauci again.
Biden has made it clear that addressing the pandemic, which has infected more than 14.2 million people in the United States, with nearly 278,000 deaths, will be one of his administration’s top priorities.
The Democrat also said Thursday that he will urge Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days after taking office.
Fauci said Friday that he had spoken to Biden about the plan and said it was a good idea.
“He’s saying ‘Hi folks, trust me, everyone for 100 days,'” the expert said. “Now, it may be that after that, we still need him, but he just wants it, all with a 100-day commitment.”
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