Fauci faces calls for resignation from Republican lawmakers over Wuhan lab stance

US top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is facing calls of resignation from Republican lawmakers over what they have termed as his ‘shift’ of remarks if the American government funded the research at Wuhan Insitute of Virology, which is also the centre of the lab leak conspiracy theory. The chief medical advisor to the White House on Tuesday told the lawmakers that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology through the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance with $600,000 over a period of five years. This funding was eventually halted by the NIH. Even though he denied if the funding was utilised by the scientists for the so-called ‘gain of function research,’ Republican lawmakers find it hard to trust it.

Gain of function research involves the altering of a virus to make it either more infectious or deadly to enhance the prediction of new pathogens and ways to neutralise them. On May 26 hearing in the Senate, Republican Senator John Kennedy, as per CNBC, questioned Fauci’s faith in the Wuhan lab scientists. Reportedly, Kennedy asked the US top infectious disease expert, “How do you know they didn’t lie to you and use the money for a gain of function research anyway?” It was met with Fauci replying that there was no way to guarantee that the scientists at the lab did not lie. Fauci acknowledged, “you never know.”

Earlier this month, Fauci also indulged in a discussion with Senator Rand Paul over the same matter. On May 11, when Paul began to say, "Government scientists like yourself who favour gain function," he was met with Fauci's interruption who said, "I don’t favour gain-of-function research in China. You are saying things that are not correct." Meanwhile, another Republican lawmaker Warren Davidson recently introduced 'Fauci Incompetence Requires Early Dismissal Act,' which called for Fauci’s termination.

On Twitter, Davidson wrote, "Since the start of COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Fauci has cared more about the political science than the actual science. It's time for him to go."

Fauci called Wuhan scientists ‘trustworthy’

Despite the doubts cast by the Republican senator, Fauci reportedly said that the scientists at the Wuhan lab are “trustworthy” and expressed that he would expect them to comply with the conditions of the grant. The $600,000 fund by the NIH was to elevate the understanding of the transmission of the coronaviruses from bats to humans and to have more information regarding the SARS-CoV-1 epidemic in the early 2000s.

Reportedly, when Fauci was asked if China’s ruling Communist Party influences the scientists at Wuhan lab, Fauci replied, “I don’t have enough insight into the Communist Party in China to know the interactions between them and the scientists,” before adding that there is no way of determining the influence of Chinese government on the World Health Organization (WHO) either. US top infectious disease expert mentioned the UN health agency after Kennedy implied that WHO is in the ‘pocket’ of China’s CCP.

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