'I said yes right on the spot': Dr. Anthony Fauci accepts Joe Biden's offer to be chief medical adviser - but warns 'January is going to be terrible' and says masks might be needed beyond president-elect's call for 100 days face coverings

Dr. Anthony Fauci said he accepted 'on the spot' an offer from Joe Biden to be his chief medical adviser and warned Americans may continue to need to wear face masks beyond the 100 days the president-elect advocated.

'I said yes right on the spot,' Fauci told NBC's 'Today Show' on Friday morning about Biden's offer. Fauci also will remain the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

He also praised Biden's plan to ask Americans to wear face masks for 100 days but said it may need to go beyond that.  

'It's a good idea,' Fauci said. 'He's saying hey, folks, trust me, everybody for 100 days. Now it might be that after that we're still going to need it but he just wants everybody for a commitment for 100 days. I told him I thought that was a good idea.' 

But in a separate interview with Newsweek he warned that the nation faces a grim January, fueled by people refusing to follow public health advice not to travel or socialize at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

'I think January is going to be terrible because you're going to have the Thanksgiving surge super-imposed upon the Christmas surge. So it's entirely conceivable that January could be the worst,' he told the magazine.

He said the start of the post-Thanksgiving surge is still to come and warned that deaths and hospitalizations will follow.

'I hate to say that but it's the truth and the reality. I do see that happening,' he said. 

He spoke as the United States recorded 3,156 deaths on Wednesday, the highest single-day death toll to date - which accounts for one death every 30 seconds. On Wednesday, hospitalizations hit more than 100,000 for the first time since the pandemic and the daily number of new cases surpassed 200,000.

Fauci and Biden's warm public words about each other are in stark contrast to his relationship with Trump, who at one point talked openly about firing the doctor. 

Fauci eye-rolled at a White House COVID briefing, was kept from being interviewed by major news shows, and was repeatedly asked by interviewers about the obvious differences between his pleas for masks and social distancing and Trump's own example.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said he accepted 'on the spot' an offer from Joe Biden to be his chief medical adviser

President-elect Joe Biden said he will ask Americans to mask up for 100 days as soon as he takes the oath of office, which is on January 20th

A total of 2,879 Americans died of coronavirus yesterday, which is up from its previous single-day record of 2,804 just one day earlier. It marks a considerable jump from the previous high of 2,603 reported back on April 15 during the initial peak of the pandemic 

The number of daily cases also reached all time highs with 217,664 new confirmed infections reported yesterday

The number of hospitalizations also reached a new high with 100,667 patients currently being treated for the virus. Of those hospitalized 19,442 are in the ICU and 6,967 are on ventilators

 The infectious disease expert however praised former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama for willing to get vaccinated in public once a COVID cure is ready. 

And he said more public figures should do the same.  

'I think as many people who the public can relate to,' he told the Today Show. Trump has made no offer to do so.

'And the public relates to different types of people. Some relate to presidents, some to sports figures, some to entertainers - anyone that can build the confidence in the public about getting vaccine would be a good thing because we really do have to get as many people as possible vaccinated.

'Having an extraordinarily efficacious vaccine, like we do have for sure, 94, 95%, doesn't mean anything if people doesn't get vaccinated. And that's the reason we're pushing really the envelope on that,' Fauci said.  

Biden said in an interview on Thursday night he will ask Americans to mask up for 100 days as soon as he takes the oath of office. 

'On the first day I'm inaugurated I'm going to ask the public for 100 days to mask - just 100 days to mask. Not forever,' Biden told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday. 

'And I think we'll see a significant reduction' in COVID cases when that happens, he said.

Inauguration Day is January 20th. Biden has pushed for Americans to wear the face coverings, even suggesting he may do a national mandate, to combat the disease. 

The United States is averaging 179,171 cases per day and 1,826 deaths per day over the last week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing face masks 'in public settings and when around people who don't live in their household.​'

But some have turned it into an issue of political freedom, saying they don't want to be 'forced' to wear one. President Donald Trump has been reluctant to wear a face covering in public - although he has worn one in mandatory situations - and his campaign rallies featured thousands of people free of face coverings. His team argued wearing a face mask is a personal choice.  

The president-elect also revealed he's spoken to Fauci and asked him to stay in his current job along with playing a senior role in his administration.

'I asked him to stay on the exact same role he's had for the past several presidents, and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well, and be part of the COVID team,' Biden told CNN.

Biden added that Ron Klain, his incoming chief of staff, knew Fauci well and had been talking to him 'all the time.'

Fauci has clashed at times with Donald Trump as the president has made such suggestions as injecting bleach in oneself to combat the coronavirus and pushed for an economic recovery ahead of medical advice.

But the doctor, who was an early expert on the AIDS crisis, has become a public hero and trusted face of the disease as cases rise across the nation. 

Experts have warned the coming winter months will be difficult and cases of the disease will continue to rise.

'The reality is, December and January and February are going to be rough times. I actually believe they're going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation, largely because of the stress that's going to be put on our health care system,' CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield said. 

Fauci issued his warning the morning after the United States recorded its worst day of the COVID-19 pandemic so far with one American dying every 30 seconds, more than 100,000 people in hospital and 217,000 confirmed infections. 

A total of 2,879 Americans died of coronavirus Thursday, which is up from its previous single-day record of 2,804 just one day earlier. It marks a considerable jump from the previous high of 2,603 reported back on April 15 during the initial peak of the pandemic. 

The number of daily cases and hospitalizations also reached all time highs with 217,664 new confirmed infections and 100,667 patients currently being treated for the virus. 

Of those hospitalized, 19,442 are in the ICU and 6,967 are on ventilators, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

The grim figures nationwide come as Los Angeles was reduced to a ghost town following the city's new lockdown order and as California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new stay-at-home order for areas in the state where fewer than 15 percent of intensive care unit beds are available. 

The measures paint a grim picture of what could be to come this winter as the virus surges coast to coast. 

Dr Anthony Fauci said the record number of cases and deaths is as 'bad as I feared' but it still wasn't a full indication of a post-Thanksgiving surge, which is likely to be seen in the next two weeks.

'I think we have not yet seen the post-Thanksgiving peak. That's the concerning thing because the numbers themselves are alarming and then you realize it is likely we'll see more of a surge as we get two to three weeks past the Thanksgiving holiday,' Fauci told NBC's Today this morning.  

'We're in a very precarious situation right now. There certainly is light at the end of the tunnel with a vaccine but we're not there yet. So we really have to intensify our public health measures to try and blunt this trajectory, which is really significant.' 

In other COVID-19 news today:

As COVID-19 surges across the country, California is the first state to shut down ahead of winter. 

The four million residents of Los Angeles were ordered to stay home as part of Mayor Eric Garcetti's new public order issued on Wednesday that mirrored a directive put in place by Los Angeles County health officials last week. 

Apart from a few exceptions, nonessential businesses are now closed and travel and social gatherings are now banned.  

Garcetti urged residents to 'cancel everything,' saying no one should be hosting or attending gatherings and warned that those who break the rules may potentially be arrested. 

Meanwhile, Gov Newsom announced his new statewide stay-at-home order yesterday in areas where hospitals are reaching capacity. 

The new order divides the state into five regions - none of which currently meet the threshold for the new restrictions -  however four, including Greater Sacramento, Northern California, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, are on track to hit that threshold within a few days. 

The fifth region, the Bay Area, is expected to meet it by the middle of the month, Newsom said. 

This is also the second time LA has gone into lockdown since the initial coronavirus outbreak earlier this year that brought the entire country to a standstill. 

Fauci and Biden's comments suggest a new political tone in response to the escalating crisis. 

Biden said he'd be 'happy' to take a COVID vaccine once Fauci says it's safe to do so and that he'd take it publicly to demonstrate his confidence in it.

'People have lost faith in the ability of the vaccine to work. Already the numbers are really staggeringly low, and it matters what the President and Vice President do,' he said.

All three former presidents - Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton - said they would publicly take a COVID vaccine to instill confidence in it

His comments come the day after three of his presidential predecessors- Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama - said they would publicly get the coronavirus vaccine as a way to demonstrate its safety and efficacy.

'I think that my three predecessors have set the model as to what should be done, saying, once it's declared to be safe ... then obviously we take it and it's important to communicate to the American people,' Biden said.

There are at least three possible COVID vaccines showing strong signs of efficacy.

And the Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a meeting for Dec. 10 to discuss Pfizer's request for emergency use authorization.  

As of early Friday, there are 14,139,040 confirmed cases nationwide and 276,235 total deaths. 

The CDC however earlier estimated the number of Americans who died from the virus this year could actually be as high as 345,000. That death toll accounts for fatalities, or 'excess deaths', that are higher than expected, according to a New York Times analysis of CDC data.

Excess deaths are the gap between the number of deaths and the expected number of fatalities. The analysis examines all deaths and not just those confirmed to be from COVID-19.

Between March and November, excess deaths were 41 percent higher than the official COVID-19 death toll. They were also nearly 20 percent higher than expected in that same time frame. The excess deaths could also be from other causes as hospitals become overwhelmed with COVID patients.

Hospitalizations and cases across the country continue to surge in the wake of Thanksgiving with over 100,000 patients being treated Thursday

According to the Covid Tracking Project, more than 10 states broke case records today: Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont

On a state level, the excess deaths coincide with where COVID-19 death tolls have surged at various points throughout the year. For example, excess deaths are currently highest in the Midwest. They were highest in the Northeast in the spring when New York was hard hit by the virus. 

Pfizer CEO admits he is 'not certain' their COVID-19 shot will prevent vaccinated people from spreading the virus - as the firm cuts the number of doses it will ship this year 

By Natalie Rahhal for DailyMail.com

Pfizer's coronavirus jab may not prevent vaccinated people from spreading coronavirus, the firm's chairman admitted this week.

'I think that's something that needs to be examined. We're not certain about that right now,' said Albert Bourla, when asked by Dateline's Lester Holt about whether the shot would prevent transmission during the interview, which aired Thursday night.

The interview was recorded shortly before Pfizer confirmed that it will only be able to ship 50 million doses of its vaccine by the end of the year - half as many as the 100 million the pharmaceutical giant had promised - due to supply chain issues.

It's the latest in a series of tumultuous developments for the vaccine-maker this week. Its shot became the first approved in the West on Wednesday when it was greenlit in the UK.

Clinical trials found the shot to be 95 percent effective at preventing people from developing COVID-19, which could mean stemming the pandemic's deadliness and burden on health care systems worldwide.

But Pfizer didn't collect data that would show whether volunteers who got its shot transmitted the virus (nor have other companies offered such data), so it's possible that highly-contagious virus could continue spreading after we have vaccines.