Trump Selects COVID Lockdown Critic for NIH Leadership
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped health economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a move likely to stir controversy due to Bhattacharya’s outspoken criticism of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates.
A Controversial Pick
Bhattacharya, a 56-year-old physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, will work in tandem with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. The duo, according to Trump, will aim to “restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research” as they tackle America’s prevailing health crises, including the epidemic of chronic illness.
Bhattacharya’s selection marks the enduring influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on public health discourse. He gained prominence as one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 open letter asserting that lockdowns were inflicting irreversible damage and advocating for a strategy focused on protecting high-risk individuals while allowing lower-risk populations to achieve immunity through natural infection.
“The Biggest Public Health Mistake”
“I think the lockdowns were the single biggest public health mistake,” Bhattacharya declared in March 2021 during a panel discussion led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. His stance aligned with some within the first Trump administration but drew sharp criticism from many disease experts, including then-NIH director Dr. Francis Collins, who denounced the declaration as “dangerous” and “not mainstream science.”
Bhattacharya’s outspoken views also led to restrictions on social media platforms, which he challenged in the Supreme Court case, Murthy v. Missouri. The court sided with the Biden administration in that case, but after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, he invited Bhattacharya to Twitter headquarters to discuss the limitations imposed on his account, which Musk later renamed X. Bhattacharya has been critical of the platform’s recent changes, mocking alternative site Bluesky as “their own little echo chamber.”
Bhattacharya maintains that vaccine mandates withholding access to activities and workplaces from unvaccinated individuals eroded trust in the public health system. A former research fellow at the Hoover Institution and economist at the RAND Corporation, he argues that herd immunity is a viable strategy to combat pandemics.
Navigating Senate Confirmation
This nomination will require Senate approval. Trump also announced that former HHS official Jim O’Neill will assume the role of deputy secretary, focusing on enhancing operational transparency and accountability.
The NIH: A Titan of Medical Research
The National Institutes of Health, which operates under HHS, commands an $48 billion budget to fund medical research through competitive grants to researchers across the nation. The agency also conducts its own research, employing thousands of scientists at its Bethesda, Maryland laboratories.
The NIH has played a crucial role in advancing medical breakthroughs, including the development of medications for opioid addiction, a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, a multitude of new cancer treatments, and the rapid development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
How might the appointment of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya as head of NIH, given his stance against lockdowns and vaccine mandates, influence the future direction of research funding and priorities at the NIH?
## Trump Picks Controversial Lockdown Critic to Lead NIH: Interview Excerpt
**Anchor:** Joining us now is Dr. Emily Carter, a public health researcher at Johns Hopkins University, to discuss the breaking news of the president-elect’s appointment of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya as head of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Carter, thank you for joining us.
**Dr. Carter:** Thanks for having me.
**Anchor:** Dr. Bhattacharya is known for his outspoken stance against lockdowns during the pandemic. Many scientists criticized this approach. What are your initial thoughts on his nomination?
**Dr. Carter:** This is certainly a controversial pick. As you mentioned, Dr. Bhattacharya gained notoriety for co-authoring the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated for an approach focused on shielding high-risk individuals while allowing the virus to spread freely among the rest of the population. [[1](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/us/politics/jay-bhattacharya-nih-trump.html)]This strategy was heavily criticized by many public health experts, myself included, because it risked overwhelming healthcare systems and leading to unnecessary deaths.
**Anchor:** Dr. Bhattacharya has also been critical of vaccine mandates. How might his stance on these issues impact the direction of the NIH?
**Dr. Carter:** That’s a crucial question. The NIH plays a vital role in funding and conducting research on vaccines and infectious diseases. Dr. Bhattacharya’s skepticism toward these public health measures could potentially influence the type of research that is prioritized and funded, which could have far-reaching consequences for public health.
**Anchor:** We’ve heard the Trump administration state their goal is to “restore the NIH to a Gold Standard.” Do you think Dr. Bhattacharya is the right person to lead this effort?
**Dr. Carter:** Given his controversial views on key public health issues, this appointment raises serious concerns about the future direction of the NIH. It’s essential that the head of such a crucial institution be guided by scientific evidence and consensus, and Dr. Bhattacharya’s record suggests a strong divergence from these principles. It will be important to watch closely how this unfolds and what it means for the future of public health research in the United States.
