Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), will have his first “substantive discussions” with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team.
Fauci told CBS News that he has spoken with Biden’s soon-to-be chief of staff Ron Klain a couple of times, which were not “substantive” discussions, and will be meeting with Biden’s “landing team” on Thursday.
“I’m going to be meeting with them today, by Zoom, by virtually. So today will be the first day where there will be substantive discussions about the transition between me and the Biden team,” Fauci told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on “The Takeout” podcast.
“I’m very pleased that today we’re having the first discussion about a number of things, vaccinations and things like that.”
Fauci is currently a member of the Trump White House coronavirus task force, and he has advised six presidents on domestic and global health issues. He wants to make sure there continues to be a smooth transition between administrations.
“Having served six administrations, I’ve been through five transitions, and I know that transitions are really important if you want to get a smooth handing over of the responsibility,” Fauci told CBS’ Garrett.
He also said:
“I would have liked to have seen us getting involved with the team as early as we possibly can because we want the smooth transition to occur. Everyone believes that a smooth transition is certainly better than no transition.”
Fauci previously made calls for a smooth transition between the Trump administration and the incoming Biden administration, saying, “The virus is not going to stop and call a time out while things change. The virus is just going to keep going. The process is just going to keep going.”
The NIAID director has not spoken directly with Biden yet, but he does believe Biden will keep him on to advise in the next administration amid the pandemic, “I am almost certain that he’s going to want me to do that, because that’s what I do.”
According to reports, Biden might tap Jeff Zients as the incoming administration’s coronavirus “czar.” Zients appears to be a front-runner. Whoever the “czar” becomes will have a lot on their plate as the coronavirus pandemic rages on in the U.S. and with the distribution of a new coronavirus vaccine.
