“I’ve been through multiple transitions now, having served six presidents for 36 years,” Fauci told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union. “It’s very clear that that transition process that we go through … is really important in a smooth handing-over of the information.”

“it’s almost like passing a baton in a race,” he went on. “You don’t want to stop and then give it to somebody. You want to just essentially keep going — and that is what transition is, so it certainly would make things [go] more smoothly if we could do that.”

Asked if it would better for public health if his team were able to work with Biden’s transition team right now, Fauci replied: “That is obvious. Of course it would be better if we could start working with them.”