President-elect Donald Trump has selected Jay Bhattacharya, a noted skeptic of stay-at-home orders and other measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic, to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In addition to his opposition to the stay-at-home orders (which were an effective initial response to quelling the spread of coronavirus), Bhattacharya also argued in favor of “natural” herd immunity before vaccines were available — a method where healthy people would have gone about their daily routines without care for the virus as a way to supposedly achieve immunity for themselves. Such actions would have inevitably led to more deaths, particularly among vulnerable populations.

When the pandemic was in its early months, Bhattacharya was deeply concerned with the negative mental and physical health impacts that stay-at-home orders would have on the U.S. populace. While those concerns were valid, they paled in comparison to the dangerous and oftentimes deadly results of individuals, communities and states flouting recommendations for social distancing.

Notably, Bhattacharya is an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services, who is known for his opposition to vaccines.

“Together, Jay and RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research as they examine the underlying causes of, and solutions to, America’s biggest Health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease,” Trump said in a statement announcing Bhattacharya’s nomination.

Trump’s and Bhattacharya’s views align when it comes to so-called herd immunity, which the president-elect repeatedly advocated for as a way to deal with........

© Truthout