Dr. Anthony Fauci has dropped hints that he will soon retire, and the 81-year-old said he believes the COVID pandemic is far from over.
Speaking the day after he said, “I can’t stay at this job forever,” Fauci appeared determined to stay when asked on ABC’s This Week if he was really thinking about leaving.
He replied, “I’m not sure, George,” the director of the National Institutes of Health told host George Stephonaupoulos. “I want to make sure we really get out of this before I really seriously consider doing something else. We are still in it.
“We have a path. I think we are clearly moving in the right direction. I hope it stays that way,” he added.
On Saturday, the second top presidential medical adviser in U.S. history was asked if the country was finally ready to turn the page on the end of the COVID pandemic, and if he intended to “rest” once that moment arrived. .
Fauci, who is also Joe Biden’s medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“I said that I will do what I do until we get out of the pandemic phase, and I think we can already be there,” he said. “I don’t have plans to go anywhere right now, but who knows. I can’t stay at this job forever.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to comments he made on Saturday by hinting that he would retire as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic fades in the US, suggesting the country “still has room to move” before that happens.
Fauci has served as a public health expert for more than 50 years and has advised every American president since Ronald Reagan, becoming the nation’s top COVID expert, drawing criticism over the country’s handling of the pandemic.
Hints of resignation came as he warned that easing restrictions, weakening vaccine protections and the rise of BA.2 sub-option in the UK and around the world could spark a new wave of COVID infections in the US.
About 10,918 new cases have been reported in the United States over the past 24 hours, with about 281 new deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. At the height of the Omicron surge in the US, a record was set with more than a million new infections each day.
Dr. Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and adviser to President Joe Biden, said on Saturday he could soon retire due to declining U.S. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
Fauci told ABC that the emergence of a new variant that caused a surge in the UK could cause a surge in the US as it appears to be as contagious as Omicron, but added that it would not cause a surge in hospitalizations or deaths. .
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some leveling off of our decline or perhaps even an increase in the next few weeks,” he said, noting that the US typically lags the UK by two to three weeks when it comes to a spike in cases.
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, has been selected as the White House’s chief coronavirus coordinator.
“Whether this will lead to another spike, a mini-burst, or maybe even a moderate spike is very unclear because there are a lot of other things going on right now.”
He added that the rise could see a return to the U.S. of COVID-related restrictions, but noted that it would likely not be easy to get mandates back once states across the country lift protocols.
“From what I know about human nature, which I think is quite a lot, people are kind of done with COVID,” he said.
If Fauci steps down, his duties are likely to be taken over by Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, who was chosen as the White House’s lead coronavirus coordinator after Jeff Zients resigns next month.
The possible retirement comes days after Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul announced he was amending Fauci’s dismissal from a job he’s held since 1984, accusing the medical examiner of “abusing” his power during the COVID-19 pandemic. .
This is the latest step in a war of words between the two main rivals that has lasted almost the entire pandemic since it began in March 2020.
“We have learned a lot in the past two years, but one lesson in particular is that no individual should be considered a ‘master dictator’. No individual should have unilateral authority to make decisions for millions of Americans,” Paul wrote in a Fox News article on Monday.
“To ensure that ineffective, unscientific lockdowns and mandates are never again imposed on the American people, I will make an amendment to remove Dr. Anthony Fauci from his position as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and split his power into three separate new institutions,” he added. is he.
“Each of these three institutions will be led by a director appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate for a five-year term,” Paul explained.
“This will create accountability and oversight for a taxpayer-funded position that has largely abused its power and been responsible for many failures and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 970,000 Americans since it began.
His two years were marked by guerrilla battles over medical requirements such as lockdowns, vaccine requirements and mask rules.
Paul, who has been one of the most vocal critics of the sweeping public health rulings, criticized Fauci as “an unelected bureaucrat with too much power”.
“No one person should have the exclusive power to dictate science, especially if that person has never followed science. I’ve said this from the very beginning, and I’ve been proven right again, and again, and again. About masks, quarantine, schools, natural immunity and all that,” said the Republican from Kentucky.
He cited a CBS interview in late November 2021 that sparked outrage from the Republican Party, during which Fauci said his critics, who are all Republicans, were actually “anti-science.” Fauci also blamed Paul for the threats received by the COVID expert and his family.
Fauci is also being blamed for closing investigations into the possibility that the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, after a bomb report showed that he did indeed set aside US dollars in tax revenue for research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. .
Scott Atlas, a former White House COVID adviser, also criticized Fauci during an interview with Carlson Tucker on Thursday night, asking if he should still be America’s top adviser.
“When we admit that the person in charge of policy is wrong and has failed,” Atlas asked.
Criticism has extended to the White House, which has been under pressure following a series of positive tests, including Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, who tested positive last week.