Fauci to step down from govt posts

Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official who became the face of America’s coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic response under presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, has announced that he is stepping down in December after more than five decades of public service.Fauci, whose efforts to fight the pandemic were applauded by many public health experts even as he was vilified by Trump and many Republicans, will be leaving his posts as chief medical adviser to Biden and director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).Fauci, 81, has headed the institute since 1984.He has served under seven US presidents, beginning with Republican Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, focusing on newly emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats including HIV/Aids, Ebola, Zika, monkeypox and Covid-19.Fauci endured criticism from Trump and various conservatives and even death threats from people who objected to safeguards such as vaccination, social distancing and masking that he advocated to try to limit the lethality of the Covid-19 pandemic.“As he leaves his position in the US government, I know the American people and the entire world will continue to benefit from Dr Fauci’s expertise in whatever he does next,” Biden said in a statement. “The United States of America is stronger, more resilient and healthier because of him.”In July, Fauci told Reuters that he would retire by the end of Biden’s first term, which runs to January 2025, adding that his departure could come much earlier than that.“While I am moving on from my current positions, I am not retiring,” Fauci said in a statement yesterday. “After more than 50 years of government service, I plan to pursue the next phase of my career while I still have so much energy and passion for my field.”In the first months of the pandemic in 2020, Fauci helped lead scientific efforts to develop and test Covid-19 vaccines in record time and took part in regular televised White House briefings alongside Trump.He became a credible source of reliable information, reassuring the public with his calm and professorial demeanour during frequent media appearances.His straight-talking approach won him legions of fans, who bought T-shirts and bobbleheads in his likeness and made cocktails named after him.However, his honest takes on America’s early failures to get to grips with the virus brought Fauci into conflict with Trump.The White House at one point barred him from doing TV interviews and launched a media blitz against him.The clash helped turn him into a hate figure for many on the right – already incensed by the pandemic protections Fauci was advocating, from masks and vaccines to school and business closures.Trump in October 2020, weeks before his re-election loss, called Fauci “a disaster” and complained that Americans were tired of hearing about the pandemic.Trump even made fun of Fauci’s off-target ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals baseball game.Earlier this year, Fauci recounted “threats upon my life, harassment of my family, and my children with obscene phone calls”.This month a West Virginia man was sentenced to three years in prison for threatening to drag Fauci and his family into the street and beat them to death.However, despite the threats, Fauci has been conciliatory towards Trump in recent interviews, telling Politico last year that they developed “an interesting relationship”.The US death toll from Covid-19 has exceeded 1mn, with more than 93mn recorded cases, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Asked in a July 2020 interview how he coped with the attacks on his character and allegiance to Trump as president, Fauci told Reuters: “I don’t let it bother me. What we’re doing with vaccines, what we’re doing with therapeutics, what we’re doing with clinical trials is the real substance.”Attacks against Fauci by Republican Senator Rand Paul became a regular feature of Senate hearings on the pandemic, with heated exchanges over vaccine boosters and public funding of research.Fauci accused the senator of spreading misinformation.Paul on his website accused Fauci of “ignoring good advice, and lying about everything from masks to the contagiousness of the virus”.At one hearing, the senator accused Fauci of smearing other scientists who disagreed with him.“He’s doing this for political reasons,” Fauci told the hearing, citing fundraising appeals on Paul’s website next to a call to have Fauci fired.It was not the first time he has faced criticism and clashes.In the 1980s he became a lightning rod for accusations the government was not doing enough to stem the rise of HIV/Aids – but he later forged a close collaboration with activists.His accomplishments include implementing a fast-track system that widened access to antiretroviral medicines, and working with former president George H W Bush to plough in more resources.Later, under president George W Bush, Fauci was the architect of the President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (PEPFAR), credited with saving millions of lives in sub-Saharan Africa.As a scientist, he is credited with developing effective treatments for formerly fatal inflammatory diseases, as well as for contributions into understanding how HIV destroys the body’s defences.Despite his many duties, he had continued to treat patients at the NIH’s Clinical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland.It was not clear if that was part of his plans going forward.Fauci will also step down as chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation.He said it had been the “honour of a lifetime” to lead the NIAID.Fauci did not spell out what he will do next, but said he wants to inspire and mentor the next generation, citing the “energy and passion” he still has for the field despite his decades of service.“I am proud to have been part of this important work,” he said.