Top government infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci will have the first “substantive discussions” about the coronavirus pandemic with President-Elect Joe Biden’s transition team on Thursday.
“I’m going to be meeting with them today, by Zoom, by virtually,” Fauci told CBS News. “So, today will be the first day where there will be substantive discussions about the transition between me and the Biden team.”
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Fauci said he will assist Biden’s “landing team” in setting priorities for curtailing the outbreak, having already gotten a late start after President Trump delayed the transition team’s access to privileged information about the pandemic.
“I’m very pleased that today, we’re having the first discussion about a number of things, vaccinations and things like that,” Fauci said.
It wasn’t until Nov. 23, nearly three weeks after Election Day, that Biden’s team was granted authorization from the General Services Administration to begin receiving national security briefings with federal agencies.
“I would have liked to have seen us getting involved with the team as early as we possibly can because we want the smooth transition to occur,” Fauci said. “Everyone believes that a smooth transition is certainly better than no transition.”
Biden has argued that the delayed transfer of power has cost many more lives due to his team’s inability to act alongside COVID-19 experts within the federal government, telling reporters on Nov. 16 that waiting until Inauguration Day to formulate a plan to distribute a vaccine “puts us behind.”
