WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden says he is keeping Dr. Anthony Fauci on as a chief medical adviser and a member of his COVID-19 advisory team.

Biden made the comments Thursday during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. He said he spoke with Fauci earlier in the day about the need to instill confidence in any coronavirus vaccine and the fact that “you don’t have to close down the economy” to combat the virus.

Biden says he’d be “happy” to get a vaccine in public to prove its safety.

The president-elect said it was also his “inclination” that, on his inauguration, he would ask the public to wear masks for 100 days to help drive down the spread of the virus.