(WASHINGTON) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, is scheduled to brief reporters from the White House on Tuesday in what is likely to be his final briefing before leaving the government at the end of the year.
Fauci was expected to press the idea that Americans should get up-to-date on their COVID and flu shots ahead of winter.
As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci has been a near-constant presence at White House briefings throughout the two years of the COVID pandemic.
In 2020, he served as a scientific check to then-President Donald Trump’s musings on the virus.
He stayed on after the election of President Joe Biden, who elevated Fauci into a top personal adviser on the pandemic.
On Tuesday, he was expected to join Biden’s other top adviser — Dr. Ashish Jha — to discuss the need for Americans to get the bivalent COVID shot.
Fauci is scheduled to retire from the government next month after more than five decades of service.
“While I am moving on from my current positions, I am not retiring,” Fauci said in a statement this fall announcing his departure from the government.
“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,” he added.
He spoke about his decision in an interview with ABC New Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl for This Week in October.
It is possible Fauci will be called to testify before Congress despite leaving government.
Republicans, who took control of the House in the midterm elections, have signaled they want to investigate his role in overseeing the government’s response to COVID.
Fauci has said that, amid all the attacks on him, he and his family have faced death threats.
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