Charlie Spiering
Dr. Anthony Fauci announced his plan to retire at the end of President Joe Biden’s term in a new interview published Monday, lamenting Americans were no longer listening to his recommendations on masking or vaccines.
Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser to the White House, acknowledged in an interview with Politico that the coronavirus would outlast his professional career in medicine.
“We’re in a pattern now. If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have Covid anymore,’ then I will be 105. I think we’re going to be living with this,” he said.
Fauci did not specify a date but presumably plans to leave after Biden’s first term in office.
He predicted Republicans would start to investigate him if they take leadership in the House of Representatives in November, but insisted that was not why he planned to retire.
“They’re going to try and come after me, anyway. I mean, probably less so if I’m not in the job,” Fauci said.
He expressed regret Americans were no longer listening to his recommendations on masking or vaccines.
“It’s becoming more and more difficult to get people to listen, because even the people who are compliant want this behind them,” Fauci said, pleading for Americans to continue wearing masks in certain situations and getting regular booster shots of the coronavirus vaccine.
The rise in coronavirus cases is blamed on the new BA.5 variant.
In an interview with ABC News last week, Fauci continued to stress the importance of wearing masks.
“Just because people are not wearing masks is not a reason for you not to wear a mask,” he said. “You can still protect yourself very well with a properly fitted, adequate mask.”
