Dr. Fauci plans to retire once President Joe Biden’s current presidential term wraps. In a recent interview he said, “I have said that for a long time. By the time we get to the end of Biden’s first term, I will very likely (retire).” When asked if he stayed in office due to a “sense of obligation, ” Fauci responded, “We’re in a pattern now. If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have Covid anymore,’ then I will be 105. I think we will live with this for years to come.”

The 81-year-old has served as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ director since 1984. He is also Biden’s chief medical adviser. But he’s confident his departure will be a smooth transition because he spent almost four decades establishing an efficient system at the NIAID. He said, “Everybody in a position of any influence in my institute, I [handpicked]. So it’s something that I’ve been working on now for four decades. So we have a good system in place. Obviously, you can’t go on forever. I do want to do other things in my career, even though I’m at a rather advanced age.”

Fauci continued expressing his desire to explore other career options. “I have the energy and the passion to continue to want to pursue other aspects of my professional career, and I’m going to do that sometime. I’m not exactly sure when, but I don’t see myself being in this job to the point where I can’t do anything else after that.”

Long before he began flooding digital news feeds with COVID-19 updates, Fauci advised every president since Ronald Reagan. He was the first director of the National Institutes of Health’s Office of AIDS Research when it was established in 1988. He played a significant role in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic. President George W. Bush awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008 for his “determined and aggressive efforts to help others live longer and healthier lives.”