Fauci was asked during a Poynter event, "United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking", earlier this month, about whether he was confident that Covid developed naturally.
Time magazine's award -- handed out annually since 1927 -- honors the person or people who most impacted the news, for better or worse, during the calendar year.
Biden is expected to make the announcement in coming days, along with choices for other key health posts, including head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Moderna, whose results stem from a clinical trial of more than 30,000 participants, expects to have approximately 20 million doses ready to ship in the United States by year-end.
Biden blasted the president, calling his administration's response to the pandemic "an insult to every single person suffering from Covid-19 and every family who's lost a loved one."
Harris also said that if there is a coronavirus vaccine available during Trump's administration that is not embraced by scientific advisers, she will not take it.
