- Another controversial pick: Trump appoints Covid lockdown skeptic Jay Bhattacharya to lead health agency
- The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on public health and politics in the US
- Other Trump nominees have also voiced similar opinions
Another controversial pick: Trump appoints Covid lockdown skeptic Jay Bhattacharya to lead health agency
D. Trump keeps his promise to appoint all candidates to Cabinet 2025 by Thanksgiving. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford University-trained physician and economist, is the newest addition to the list. Trump picks him to lead the National Institutes of Health, the world's biggest government-funded biomedical research entity.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a health economist, criticized pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. In his statement on Tuesday[1], Trump said that the 56-year-old physician and professor will work with another controversial pick, R. F. Kennedy Jr., who was picked to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
The expert stated that he felt humbled after the news. "We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again!" he wrote on social media.
According to the president-elect, these two experts will work together "to direct the Nation’s Medical Research and to make important discoveries that will improve health and save lives." Trump hopes this duo will elevate the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research. The soon-to-be-inaugurated president picks these two to examine causes and solutions to America's biggest health challenges, like chronic illness crises[2].
The National Institutes of Health, which falls under HHS, has a $48 billion budget that supports medical research on vaccines, cancer, and other diseases. NIH funding has led to breakthroughs like opioid addiction treatments, a cervical cancer vaccine, new cancer drugs, and the rapid development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on public health and politics in the US
Trump continues to pick unconventional candidates to help lead the country for another term. The pandemic was a difficult time for many, affecting politics. One of the first picks for Cabinet 2025 was RFK Jr., who was picked for the US Health Department. He is a vaccine skeptic, and such news alarmed the medical community.
However, a particular plan to put stricter regulations on food ingredients has won praise from the public. As per the latest pick, J. Bhattacharya was one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, the open letter released in October 2020[3]. This was a letter maintaining that lockdown was causing irreparable harm.
The letter challenged the public health establishment to respond to the virus outbreak at the beginning of 2020. It called for an alternative to lockdowns and recommended that the focus be on protecting vulnerable groups like elderly people instead.
Anthony Fauci, the former director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (a division of the NIH), has been criticized by many, including Jay Bhattacharya, over his handling of the pandemic.
During the pandemic, Francis Collins, then director of the NIH, called the Great Barrington Declaration "dangerous" and dismissed its authors as "fringe experts." The declaration was released before COVID-19 vaccines were available.
Other Trump nominees have also voiced similar opinions
Bhattacharya is not alone in criticizing how US public health agencies responded to the pandemic. Most of Trump’s other picks are considered outsiders aiming to bring change to Washington’s public health agencies.
Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon who opposed vaccine mandates, has been nominated to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dave Weldon, a physician and former Republican congressman who has questioned vaccine safety, has been chosen to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Robert Kennedy Jr. and Jim O’Neill, who are set to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), would oversee these agencies. However, all these nominations must be confirmed by the Senate.
Last week, Trump also nominated Dr. Mehmet Oz, a well-known TV personality, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. While some of Trump’s supporters have welcomed these nominations, not all have been received positively by conservatives. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, another of Trump's picks nominated for surgeon general, has faced criticism for her past support of masking schoolchildren during the pandemic and opposition to abortion restrictions.
