The news, when it was reported Wednesday afternoon by the New York Times, was just the latest in a series of blows to America’s public health, but it has the potential to be among the most serious: A so-called “fringe epidemiologist” will soon be serving as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control. As head of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya has done lasting damage by helping to gut millions of dollars in vital biomedical research; he will continue to serve in that role while simultaneously heading the CDC.
The appointment, which is expected to be announced soon by the White House and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., places the CDC in the hands of someone — albeit on a temporary basis, as the post now requires Senate approval — who helped lead the charge against lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. Bhattacharya argued that the virus should be allowed to spread in healthy young people until herd immunity was reached.
