Fauci said 'yes right on the spot' to Biden

On Thursday, we reported that President-elect Joe Biden said he asked infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci to stay on in the new administration, and lead the government's fight against COVID-19. Today, we learn that Fauci immediately accepted the offer.

Fauci told NBC's "Today" show on Friday there was never a question he would accept Biden's offer to serve as chief medical officer and adviser on the pandemic.

"I said yes right on the spot," Fauci says, after Biden asked him to serve during a conversation on Thursday.

From AP:

As the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci has served several presidents, Republican and Democratic. But during President Donald Trump's administration, he has been largely sidelined as Trump gave rosy assessments of the virus and insisted it would fade away.

Fauci has urged rigorous mask-wearing and social distancing, practices that have not often been followed at the White House.

On Thursday, Biden said he will ask Americans to commit to 100 days of wearing masks as one of his first acts as president.

"I told him I thought that was a good idea," Fauci told NBC.

More at the Associated Press.

Previously on Boing Boing: