US President-elect Donald Trump has elected a leading covid quarantine skeptic Jay Bhattacharia as the next director of the key US health agency. UNN reports with reference to the BBC.
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Trump has chosen a Stanford-educated physician and economist to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world's largest biomedical research organization funded by the U.S. government.
During the pandemic, Bhattacharya became the main author of an open letter that caused fierce controversy, known as the Great Barrington declaration. In the document, the doctor called for an alternative to isolation during Covid, recommending instead focusing on protecting vulnerable populations such as the elderly.
Earlier this month, Trump announced that he wants former rival Robert Kennedy Jr. to head the U.S. Department of Health. Kennedy's skepticism about vaccines has alarmed the country's medical community, although his calls for stricter regulation of food ingredients have been supported in society.
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Bhattacharya isn't the only Trump candidate to criticize U.S. health authorities ' response to the pandemic. Trump also chose Marty Makari, a surgeon at Johns Hopkins University who opposed permits for the Covid - 19 vaccine, as head of the food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dave Weldon, a physician and former Republican congressman who has also expressed doubts about the safety of vaccines, has been elected to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Kennedy and O'neill's Department of Health will oversee agencies led by Makari, Weldon, and Bhattacharia, but all five must be approved by the Senate.
Last week, Trump also nominated TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz for the post of administrator of the Centers for drug and health services.