Dr Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to US president Joe Biden, has signalled he will retire by the time the current administration leaves office.
Dr Fauci, who is 81, spearheaded the fight against Covid-19 in the United States when the pandemic began during the term of Donald Trump in the White House.
However, he and Mr Trump disagreed on the approach to dealing with Covid-19 and how to balance reopening the economy and preventing the spread of the virus. At one point Mr Trump indicated that he was considering firing Dr Fauci.
Dr Fauci also faced strong criticism from republican politicians and right-wing activists over his public health policy stance. In 2020, he said he had had to get security protection after his family received death threats and harassment.
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When Mr Trump left office, president Biden appointed Dr Fauci as his chief medical adviser.
Speaking to US media on Monday, Dr Fauci said he is likely to retire before the end of Mr Biden’s term in January 2025.
“I have always said that sometime in the reasonable future, I would be stepping down,” Dr Fauci told NBC News.
“Thus, sometime between now and then, I very likely will step down and move on to the next phase in my professional career, whatever that may be.”
“I do not plan to be in this position forever.”
However, he said no decision had been made as to when precisely he would leave his post.
Dr Fauci told CNN: “Obviously, you can’t go on forever. I do want to do other things in my career, even though I’m at a rather advanced age. I have the energy and the passion to continue to want to pursue other aspects of my professional career and I’m going to do that some time. I’m not exactly sure when, but I don’t see myself being in this job to the point where I can’t do anything else after that.”
Dr Fauci has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984 and has served seven presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan.
In his role with NIAID he helped lead the response of the US to many public health crises, including HIV/AIDS, Ebola and Zika before the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Fauci’s announcement of his future retirement plans comes at a time when Covid-19 is surging once again in the US.
Hospitalisation levels across the country have climbed by 20 per cent in the last two weeks.
More than 40,000 people are now in American hospitals with Covid on an average day — the highest numbers since last March.
In excess of 1.026 million people in the US have died as a result of Covid-19 since the emergence of the pandemic more than two years ago.
