Here is how events are unfolding. All times Eastern.
Jan 21, 2021, 5:01 PM EST
Fauci says that 100 million vaccinations in 100 days is 'quite a reasonable goal'
Dr. Fauci discussed the ongoing vaccine rollout, saying that if 70-85% of the country receives vaccines by middle of this summer then by fall "we will be approaching a degree of normality."
Fauci said the vaccine rollout is not "starting from scratch," saying that the new administration is taking the vaccine activity to date and "amplifying it in a big way." Fauci also said that Biden's ambitious vaccination goal is reasonable.
"I believe that the goal that was set by the president of getting 100 million people vaccinated in the first 100 days is quite a reasonable goal," Dr. Fauci said.
Jan 21, 2021, 4:38 PM EST
Fauci says it's 'liberating' to discuss facts behind coronavirus without fear of 'repercussions'
In a Thursday press conference addressing the Biden administration's response to COVID-19, the president's chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said there were aspects of former President Donald Trump's response to the pandemic that were "not based on scientific fact."
"I don't want to be going back, you know, over history, but it is very clear that there were things that were said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that that was uncomfortable because they were not based on scientific fact," Fauci told reporters.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, talks with reporters before an event with President Joe Biden on the coronavirus in the White House, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
"I can tell you, I take no pleasure at all in being in a situation of contradicting the president. So it was really something that you didn't feel that you could actually say something and there wouldn't be any repercussions about it. The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence -- what the science is, and know that's it, let the science speak, it is somewhat of a liberating feeling," he added.
Fauci is one of the few holdovers in the Biden administration from former President Donald Trump's Coronavirus Task Force. When asked how the new government would be different from the last, Fauci pledged that it would be transparent.
"One of the things that was very clear as recently as about 15 minutes ago when I was with the president, is that one of the things that we're going to do is be completely transparent, open and honest," Fauci said.
"If things go wrong, not point fingers, but to correct them, and to make everything we do be based on science and evidence. I mean, that was literally a conversation I had with the 15 minutes ago with the president. And he has said that multiple times."
Jan 21, 2021, 4:30 PM EST
Fauci returns to White House briefing room under Biden administration
The nation's top expert on infectious diseases and Biden's chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci offered a glimmer of hope at a White House press briefing on Thursday, saying that despite "a very, very high rate" of new infections, he thinks that cases may be hitting a plateau.
"Right now, it looks like it might actually be plateauing in the sense of turning around," Fauci said. "Now, there's good news in that, but you have to be careful that we may not be seeing perhaps an artifact of a slowing down following the holidays."
Fauci also said he felt like he had "deja vu," as around this time last year he was talking about the acceleration of cases in late winter into early spring.
Fauci's presence at the White House marks a return from a months-long absence, after Trump soured on Fauci for not hewing to Trump's false claims about the pandemic, including frequent repetitions that the virus would simply "go away."
Jan 21, 2021, 4:18 PM EST
Biden thanks law enforcement officers as many National Guard members prepare to leave D.C.
The president thanked law enforcement officers and National Guard members for providing security at his inauguration during “an unprecedented situation.” Of the more than 25,000 National Guard members who came to Washington to provide security for the inauguration, 15,000 will be leaving in the coming five to 10 days.
President Joe Biden speaks about his plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
"Let me take a few moments to thank all the law enforcement folks for all they did, and the military personnel, from all across the federal, state, and local agencies to secure yesterday’s inaugural activities,” Biden said. “And a special thanks to the members of the National Guard from around the country.”
Members of the National Guard gather near the U.S. Capitol, ahead of the 59th inaugural ceremony for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in Washington, D.C., Jan. 19, 2021.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images
Even as security measures are being relaxed in D.C. following the inauguration, there are still concerns over safety.
“The threat of right-wing extremism is here and it will continue to be a real threat to the District of Columbia and to the region as well,” D.C. Homeland Security Director Chris Rodriguez said at a press conference Thursday.
Rodriguez said the D.C. mayor has requested that his agency and other public safety agencies draft security postures to counter ongoing threats. The National Guard said in a statement Thursday that 7,000 National Guard troops will remain in D.C. through January.
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson, Dee Carden and Luis Martinez
