Jay Bhattacharya to head medical research agency // General Keith Kellogg to be sent to Ukraine and Russia
▲ Retired General Keith Kellogg (in file image) will be in charge of policy in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.Photo Ap
Ap, Afp and Reuters
La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, November 28, 2024, p. 26
Washington. The future president of the United States, Donald Trump, yesterday chose Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of confinements during the pandemic and vaccination campaigns against covid-19, to direct the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the main research agency medical of the country. His nomination must be approved by the Senate, which will test the loyalty of Republicans towards the magnate, who during his first presidential term was affected by internal disputes.
In a statement, Trump announced that Bhattacharya, a 56-year-old doctor and professor who graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine, will work in coordination with Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who will head the Department of Health and Human Services, to lead national medical research and make important discoveries that will improve health and save lives.
Bhattacharya was one of the three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter published in October 2020 that warned that lockdowns were causing irreparable harm.
The document, which was published before the availability of Covid-19 vaccines and during the first Trump administration, promoted the herd immunitythe idea that low-risk people should live normally while building immunity to the coronavirus through infection. Instead, protection should focus on those most at risk, the document said.
I think the lockdowns were the biggest public health mistakeBhattacharya commented in March 2021 during a panel convened by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The Great Barrington Declaration was embraced by some in the first Trump administration, even as it was widely denounced by disease experts. The then director of the NIH, Francis Collins, described it as dangerous.
The magnate appointed retired General Keith Kellogg, one of his stalwarts, to the position of envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
The Republican, who will take office on January 20, highlights the distinguished military and business career from Kellogg.
Very critical of the billions of dollars disbursed by the United States for Ukraine, Trump promised to resolve the war between kyiv and Moscow even before taking the oath, without explaining how.
The 80-year-old former general addressed the war in a memo published in April, stating that Any future US military aid will require Ukraine to engage in peace talks with Russia..
Meanwhile, several of those nominated by the magnate to serve in his government have been victims of bomb threats and false calls for the police to come to their homes, facts that the FBI is already investigating, the transition team reported.
