Fauci meeting with Biden team Thursday for first ‘substantive’ discussion on COVID
Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team will meet Thursday for their first “substantive” discussion on the coronavirus pandemic.
Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, told CBS News’s Major Garrett that he will meet with the president-elect’s “entire landing team” over Zoom. He said they will discuss the Biden administration’s priorities and vaccine plans, among other topics, according to CBS News.
“Today will be the first day where there will be substantive discussions about the transition between me and the Biden team,” he said during the interview.
Biden said in late November that he hadn’t spoken directly with Fauci but that members of his transition team have been in contact with him.
“He’s been very, very helpful,” Biden told reporters.
Fauci told CNN those talks were preliminary and that he looked forward to having “substantive discussions.”
Biden’s team was previously unable to meet with public health officials, including Fauci, until President Donald Trump’s administration allowed the transfer of power process to move forward.
Emily Murphy, head of the General Services Administration, last week formally recognized Biden as the apparent winner of the presidential election — giving his team access to briefings with current government officials and government office space and funding, among other resources usually made available to the president-elect.
Her recognition came weeks after Biden was projected the winner of the presidential election by The Associated Press and other major media outlets on Nov. 7, putting the transition process behind.
Biden has 306 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 232. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win. Biden will take office on Jan. 20, 2021.
Both Biden and Fauci have stressed the importance of a smooth transition to the pandemic response.
“It’s almost like passing a baton in a race,” Fauci told CNN in November. ”You don’t want to stop and then give it to somebody, you want to just essentially keep going and that’s what transition is.”
Biden expressed concern about the impact a delayed transition could have on distributing a vaccine, saying “more people may die” without a smooth transfer of power.
“If we have to wait until January 20 to start that planning, it puts us behind over a month and a half,” the former vice president said in November. “So it’s important that there be coordination now — now or as rapidly as we can get that done.”
Fauci, who has served six presidents over 36 years, has had a strained relationship with Trump, who has consistently undermined his advice on the pandemic.
Trump has also suggested he would fire Fauci, which he does not have the authority to do, calling him a “disaster” but saying it would be a “bigger bomb” if you fire him on a campaign call prior to the election.
Fauci has previously said he hopes to stay on as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and to work with the Biden administration on the pandemic.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 8:36 AM with the headline "Fauci meeting with Biden team Thursday for first ‘substantive’ discussion on COVID."
