Once A US CDC Critic, Jay Bhattacharya To Lead Agency On Acting Basis

The Donald Trump administration has appointed Jay Bhattacharya to lead the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention on an acting basis, The New York Times reported. This is the latest leadership change at the Department of Health and Human Services Under US President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr ahead of the midterm elections.

The Kolkata-born physician will continue in his role as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) while taking over leadership of the CDC. He replaces Jim O'Neill, who had been serving as the agency's acting director.

The CDC is responsible for protecting Americans from health threats and issuing guidance on vaccines and public health measures. As acting director, Bhattacharya will oversee the agency's vaccine recommendations, an issue that has become politically sensitive as Kennedy has moved to scale back certain vaccine policies, as per The Washington Post.

A physician and economist at Stanford University, Bhattacharya came to national prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic for opposing lockdowns and other strict public health restrictions. In October 2020, he co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for ending widespread shutdowns and focusing protection efforts on vulnerable populations.

In a 2024 post on X, Bhattacharya criticised the agency saying, “The CDC peddled pseudo science in the middle of a pandemic." He was taking aim at the agency's previous position on masking.

There was literally no good evidence for such an assertion. The CDC peddled pseudo science in the middle of a pandemic.

— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) July 14, 2024

Despite his criticism of parts of the pandemic response, Bhattacharya has said he supports routine childhood immunisations. “I think the best way to address the measles epidemic in this country is by vaccinating your children for measles,” he said during a Senate hearing earlier this month.

In January, Bhattacharya and other NIH leaders published a commentary in the journal Nature Medicine criticising aspects of the public health response led by other agencies.

Jim O'Neill, who also served as deputy secretary at HHS, is expected to be nominated to lead the National Science Foundation after declining a possible ambassadorship to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, The Post reported.