‘Very Pleased’ Dr. Anthony Fauci Will Have First Meeting with Biden Transition Team Thursday Afternoon

Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS News’ Major Garrett that he’s “very pleased” to be having his first meeting with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team via Zoom on Thursday.

“He is going to have his first meeting with the Biden transition team today,” CNN Jim Sciutto said. “That will take place at 2:00 this afternoon Eastern Time — virtually of course given the circumstances.”

Sciutto noted that the meeting has been highly anticipated by numerous people involved in the nation’s pandemic response.

“I’m going to be meeting with them today, by Zoom, by virtually. So today will be the first day where there will be substantive discussions about the transition between me and the Biden team,” Fauci said to CBS News. “I’m very pleased that today we’re having the first discussion about a number of things, vaccinations and things like that.”

Fauci also noted that although he has not met with Biden’s transition team yet, he has already spoken to the president-elect’s incoming chief of staff Ron Klain a few times.

“Having served six administrations, I’ve been through five transitions, and I know that transitions are really important if you want to get a smooth handing over of the responsibility,” Fauci added. “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. Everyone believes that a smooth transition is certainly better than no transition.”

Fauci also revealed he has not met with Biden himself yet but plans to do so in the near future and expects to continue to advise the administration on how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Watch above, via CNN.