Dr. Anthony Fauci is now warning of a “pretty bad flu season,” urging Americans to get flu shots when they become available this year.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation, and chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, is stepping down after the midterm elections and warned in an interview this week that the U.S. is expected to face a “pretty bad flu season” this year.
“We should be prepared for that superimposed upon what I hope is the residual and not another spike of COVID,” Fauci said, according to Bloomberg. “We better pay attention.”
However, Fauci’s advice is likely falling on deaf ears, as millions have grown weary of the controversial health official over the last two years of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, particularly in light of his many flip-flops on masking and lockdowns.
Even though Fauci is stepping down from his high profile positions, the 81-year-old made it clear he does not intend to completely leave the national spotlight.
“I’m not going to re-establish my laboratory, but I will be advising from a scientific standpoint because I do have a lot of experience in vaccinology and in HIV,” he said, according to Bloomberg. “I will be making input probably in advisory panels and on boards of scientific councils and things like that to go for a vaccine.”
Despite that, Republican leaders have warned that Fauci’s stepping down will not spare him from further investigations.
“Dr. Fauci lost the trust of the American people when his guidance unnecessarily kept schools closed and businesses shut while obscuring questions about his knowledge on the origins of COVID,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said.
“He owes the American people answers. A @HouseGOP majority will hold him accountable,” he warned:
Dr. Fauci lost the trust of the American people when his guidance unnecessarily kept schools closed and businesses shut while obscuring questions about his knowledge on the origins of COVID.
He owes the American people answers. A @HouseGOP majority will hold him accountable.— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) August 22, 2022
Fauci’s resignation will not prevent a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic. He will be asked to testify under oath regarding any discussions he participated in concerning the lab leak.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 22, 2022
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