Antony Fauci to step down as chief medical advisor to Biden in December

Top American doctor Antony Fauci said on Monday that he will quit as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and also as the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden in December this year.

"While I am moving on from my current positions, I am not retiring," Fauci said in a statement cited by NBC news.

"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," the statement read further.

In July, Fauci had said that he was planning to retire by the end of President Joe Biden's present term, which will end in January 2025.

"By the time we get to the end of Biden's first term, I will very likely (retire)," Fauci had said, as per CNN.

Fauci, who also served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for decades, had said he does not currently have a specific retirement date in mind nor has he started the process of retiring.

According to CNN, the White House Chief Medical Advisor said that he feels like he has established a good system at NIAID to facilitate a smooth transition at the agency and wants to pursue other career opportunities once he eventually leaves.

"Everybody in a position of any influence in my institute, I handpick. So it's something that I've been working on now for four decades. So, we have a good system in place," he had said.

"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. 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 some time. 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," Fauci added.

CNN reported that at the age of 81, Fauci has served more than five decades under seven presidents, advising every American president since Ronald Reagan.

( With inputs from ANI )