President-elect Joe Biden formally announced during a Tuesday speech that Dr. Anthony Fauci would be a part of his team tasked with handling the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m pleased to say that Dr. Tony Fauci will be a member of my COVID team,” Biden said. “By now, Dr. Fauci needs no introduction. But he’ll have my gratitude when I’m president, the seventh president he will have served.” (RELATED: Dr. Fauci Talks About All The Attention He’s Received In 2020, Says You Can’t ‘Start To Think You’re A Celebrity’)
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“We know each other and we’ve known each other for a long time,” Biden continued. “And I’m so grateful when I called him, almost before I asked, he said yes. I’ve seen him take on HIV/AIDS, H1N1, Ebola, Zika, COVID-19 and every infectious disease in between over his nearly 40 years of service to our country.”
“Dr. Fauci is trusted, a truth-teller, a patriot,” Biden added. “Like every good doctor, he’ll tell me what I need to know, not what I want to know.”
Dr. Fauci has served as one of the key members of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force. Biden also nominated California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Vivek Murthy as U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith to lead a coronavirus equity task force and Rochelle Walensky as director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Biden announced his plan for handling the coronavirus pandemic during his first 100 days in office. First, Biden is urging Americans to wear a mask for 100 days, an order that he said will be enforced where he has the power to do so, like in federal buildings and on planes, trains and buses.
He then said that 100 million doses of a vaccine will be distributed during his first 100 days in office, especially to high-risk populations like those in long term care facilities, health care workers and teachers. Lastly, Biden said that he seeks to safely re-open schools.