Fauci to step down at year’s end

Spent decades as nation’s leader on infectious diseases.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, prepares to receive his first dose of the covid-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health, Dec. 22, 2020, in Bethesda, Md. (PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP File)
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, prepares to receive his first dose of the covid-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health, Dec. 22, 2020, in Bethesda, Md. (PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP File)

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert who became a household name — and the subject of partisan attacks — during the covid-19 pandemic, announced Monday he will le…