A federal website that used to feature information on vaccines, testing and treatment for COVID-19 has been transformed into a page supporting the theory that the pandemic originated with a lab leak.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/61748028

Just a reminder that one of the biggest promoters of the lab leak theory is Trump’s former CDC director Robert Redfield.

The accusation the virus originally escaped from a Chinese lab, while a possibility, has never been conclusively proven, and may have arisen in retaliation after the Chinese government circulated a video of Redfield as propaganda during the earliest months of the pandemic, in order to claim the U.S. was actually responsible for COVID.

Last June, Reuters released an investigative report which revealed the U.S. military had actually retaliated against the Chinese government’s accusations by running a secret anti-vax campaign attempting to undermine China during the pandemic.

Tensions have since arisen regarding accusations against the NIH’s involvement in “dangerous” gain-of-function research at a Wuhan lab, and testimony provided by Anthony Fauci.

I am working on a 3 part series covering this information, and how it relates to recent issues surrounding the creation of an updated bird flu vaccine. The first part covers common misunderstandings related to the NIH and Gain of Function research in detail.

I am still working on the two follow ups which will cover the lab leak theory and vaccine roll out, but have not had much time to get back into writing them. I hope to have time soon. I feel it’s important to keep people informed ahead of the administration’s attempts to spread new propaganda, because this all seems to be part of an elaborate public campaign that has been in the making for quite some time.

Please also keep in mind that Redfield actually wrote a public health commentary attacking “dangerous” gain-of-function research back in February, and praising Trump’s planned EO to halt Gain of Function research, which was one of Trump’s first announcements upon taking office. Redfield’s commentary was published on the Heritage Foundation’s website.

According to an article released today by a right wing White House press member, Trump’s EO is nearing completion.

  • Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world
    83·
    5 days ago

    It’s got to be a lab leak. It can’t possibly be that he nerfed the CDC before one of the most notable outbreaks in recent history. It’s not like we had previous coronavirus outbreaks in that region going all the way back to the 1990s that were handled appropriately by previous administrations. That would be incompetent, and he’s not incompetent. So, it must be a lab leak.

    • Basic Glitch@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      9·
      4 days ago

      I mean to be completely fair, the Wuhan lab did have substandard safety practices, however that does not in anyway prove the lab leak theory. As far as that being on the NIH, they did not have authority to force a lab in China to conform to U.S. safety standards

      1. Oddly, the P3CO recommendations provided to Trump’s administration by Obama also included plans to enforce the same standards of safety required by U.S. NIH research labs for:

      A. Any privately funded labs conducting similar research in the U.S.

      B. Any labs outside the U.S. receiving NIH funding through collaboration

      If Trump’s staff had actually followed those recommendations in the framework THEY CREATED in 2017 to lift the 2014 pause on NIH “dangerous” gain of function research, it would have provided a way for the NIH to actually enforce those standards on the Wuhan lab.

      What’s even weirder, is that the NIH was set to release an updated set of guidelines this summer, which probably would have done just that. However, given Trump’s “restructuring” who tf knows.

      Those same rules also would force private companies to be regulated by the federal government lab safety standards to conduct similar research, which would mean too much oversight when Trump bans all public funding and completely privatizes GOF/vaccine research for some reason just isn’t a priority for Trump

      1. There are accusations that members of the lab showed symptoms and reported to area hospitals with some of the earliest cases. However, if this is actually true, and we’re jumping to substandard safety practices being responsible for the virus, shouldn’t we at least be mentioning that these lab members could have easily been exposed to bat coronavirus virus while taking samples from caves in Wuhan?

      If the lab members were also doing this without proper protection, they would seem to be the perfect vectors allowing the virus to eventually mutate and begin spreading to others.

      EcoHealth, the U.S. lab that was actually receiving NIH funds and collaborating with the already established Wuhan lab, had actually previously conducted similar research in other countries studying coronaviruses such as MERS.

      A 2013 NYT article includes information from one EcoHealth member studying MERS, about the often uncomfortable precautions taken in order to always avoid potential exposure while exploring caves.

      • Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world
        4·
        5 days ago

        Thanks for the thoughtful response. I learned a lot.

        Even if it was a targeted bioweapon, and I do think that’s the dog whistle here, he distmantled public health defenses against pandemics. This is a distraction from another act of incompetence.

        • Basic Glitch@lemm.eeOPEnglish
          3·
          5 days ago

          Oh I agree, I don’t believe it was created as a bioweapon, or even created in a lab at all, but I think we have to be ready to acknowledge the lab had safety issues and address accusations we’re likely going to be hearing from Trump’s team in the near future.

          If the blame for the pandemic should be pointed anywhere, I think there are several bizarre actions taken by the Trump administration and some serious questions we should be demanding Trump’s own team answer.

          Like when Obama’s team attempted to welcome the new administration by holding training exercises for how to handle an emergency response to something like SARS or MERS, Trump’s team was pretty open about what a waste of time they thought it was.

    • SplashJackson
      23·
      3 days ago

      Pretty sure somebody was just hungry for bat soup. It was just a coincidence that the flea market was right next door to the coronavirus lab