Fauci to leave health post in December

Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert for 38 years who became the face of the COVID-19 response in the US,  announced Monday that he will resign from his position in December.

The 81-year-old Fauci said that he intended to leave to "pursue the next chapter" of his career, devoting himself to traveling, writing and encouraging young people to enter government service.

"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," Fauci said in an interview with Politico.

According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US now has about 90,000 daily COVID-19 cases, but the number might be higher because of private tests not being reported. New deaths are averaging about 400 a day. The US has had the world's highest death toll attributed to COVID — 1,035,469.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser and served as the adviser to six other US presidents, including Donald Trump. Fauci often corrected Trump on  the virus, saying he did so to benefit the public and "for the sake of preserving my own integrity". 

Beginning as early as February and March of 2020, Fauci and Trump began to openly disagree with each other at press conferences and in separate interviews regarding the status of COVID-19 procedures.

In July 2020, Trump told Politico that he enjoyed a great relationship with him.

"Dr Fauci's made some mistakes," the former president said. "He's a little bit of an alarmist. I have a very good relationship with Dr Fauci."

But at a reelection rally in Florida in November 2020, Trump supporters chanted  "Fire Fauci", and Trump responded they would have to "wait until a little bit after the election", hinting that he would soon fire him. Trump then told the crowd, many of whom were not wearing masks, that Fauci is a "nice guy but he's been wrong a lot".

Technically, the president couldn't directly fire Fauci because he is a career federal employee protected by federal civil service regulations.

Fauci has acknowledged that his response to the pandemic wasn't perfect. "I give advice, according to the best scientific evidence," he told members of Congress in May 2020. "We should be humble about what we don't know."

Early in the COVID-19 outbreak, he told Americans that there was no need to wear masks to protect against infection from the coronavirus, which turned out to be incorrect. He has said that he offered that advice because masks were in short supply at the time. 

Many, especially conservatives, viewed Fauci as a symbol of lockdowns and masks, which they fiercely resisted. Fauci received personal threats and was given an armed security team in 2020.

Some saw Fauci as enjoying his frequent television appearances but also as a symbol of mistrust in government and the vaccines that eventually became available. He has said he did television interviews because his voice was needed to deliver public health messages in a time of crisis.

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul became one of Fauci's most frequent critics. During nationally televised Senate hearings, he had grilled and criticized him, and Fauci has returned the fire.

Paul publicly accused him of lying about research his institute was funding in China. "If anybody is lying here, senator, it is you,'' Fauci said.

Paul, who is a doctor of ophthalmology, said Monday on social media that Fauci's resignation won't prevent a "full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic".

Biden thanked Fauci, whom he called a "dedicated public servant and a steady hand with wisdom and insight".

Agencies contributed to this story.