Anthony Fauci retires in December after five decades of service

The Doctor. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert who has gained fame and been the target of partisan attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Monday that he will step down from the federal government in December after more than five decades.

Fauci directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, and also directs a laboratory that studies the immune system.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic introduced him to millions of Americans, he spoke directly to the nation about many epidemics, including HIV/AIDS, SARS, pandemic influenza, Ebola, and the anthrax attacks of 2001.

“For 54 years, I walked this campus, labs and hospital every day, including most weekends. The idea of ​​moving away from that is obviously bittersweet,” Fauci told the Associated Press.

In announcing his departure, the 81-year-old Fauci called his roles “the honor of a lifetime” but said it was time to “move on to the next chapter of my career”.

Known for his candor and ability to translate complex medical information into everyday language, Fauci was a key adviser to seven presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan.

Fauci became the face of the administration’s response to COVID-19 in early 2020, during televised news and daily press conferences with White House officials, including then-President Donald Trump. But as the pandemic deepened, Fauci fell out of favor with Trump as his calls for continued public caution clashed with the former president’s desire to return to normalcy and promote an unproven treatment for the virus.

Fauci was sidelined by the Trump administration but continued to speak out in media interviews, advocating social distancing and masks in public ahead of the spread of COVID-19 vaccines.

He was also the target of political attacks and death threats and was given a security detachment to protect him.

When Biden won the White House, he asked Fauci to remain in a top government post.

“I was able to call him at any time of day to ask for advice,” Biden said in a statement. “Whether you know him personally or not, he touched the lives of all Americans through his work. I am deeply grateful for his public service. Because of him, the United States of America is stronger, stronger and healthier.”

Fauci said he plans to continue working after he leaves government, saying he wants to use his experience “to inspire the younger generation of scientists and future scientists” to consider a career in public service.

For all the hate surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, this wasn’t Fauci’s first encounter with an angry audience. He became head of the infectious diseases branch of the National Institutes of Health in 1984, when the country was in the midst of an AIDS crisis. Activists protested what they saw as government indifference, and Fauci, frustrated at not being able to save dying patients at the NIH hospital, brought them to the table for treatment.

Later, under President George W. Bush, Fauci helped develop PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, to bring life-saving HIV treatment to developing countries. In 2008, Bush awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Fauci said on Monday he hoped to have a successful HIV vaccine before he retired, but “it wasn’t for lack of trying” because of the extraordinary scientific challenges presented by the virus.

Fast forward to COVID-19, and for many Americans, Fauci remains a trusted voice, even as scientists have been baffled again and again by the rapidly evolving new virus. The NIH laid the scientific foundations for the rapid development of powerful coronavirus vaccines that, while not perfect, are highly effective in preventing serious illness and death.

Fauci told the AP he remains frustrated with the country’s divisions over how to deal with the pandemic.

“If there was ever a situation where you wanted to take a unified approach and bring everyone together for the greater good, it would be when you were in the midst of a public health crisis,” he said. “As doctors and scientists, my colleagues and I have a responsibility to do the right thing, based on science.”