NIH Director Questions Agency’s Role in COVID-19 Origins, Sparks Mass Employee Walkout

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), sparked a mass walkout of NIH employees after suggesting that COVID-19 may have originated from a Wuhan lab and that NIH helped fund it.

During a staff town hall meeting on Monday, Bhattacharya told NIH employees, “It’s possible that the pandemic was caused by research conducted by human beings, and it’s also possible that the NIH partly sponsored that research.”

That comment prompted dozens of NIH employees to walk out of the meeting.

NEW: NIH Director @DrJBhattacharya sparks mass walkout from NIH employees after suggesting COVID-19 may have originated from the Wuhan lab — and that NIH helped fund it.

“It’s possible that the pandemic was caused by research conducted by human beings, and it’s also possible… pic.twitter.com/r74gv0iqcw

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) May 20, 2025

As the NIH employees, some wearing masks, stormed out of the meeting, Bhattacharya called after them, “Nice to have free speech. You’re welcome, you guys.”

Bhattacharya told the remaining employees, “If it’s true that we sponsored research that caused the pandemic — and if you look at polls of the American people, that’s what most people believe, and I’ve looked at the scientific evidence and I believe it — [then] what we have to do is make sure that we don’t engage in research that is any risk…to human populations.”

The U.S. has faced growing scrutiny for the NIH’s participation in controversial virus manipulation experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology where the FBI and CIA both believe the COVID-19 virus originated.

As the new director of NIH, Bhattacharya has also faced a $2.7 billion cut in funding from the federal government as well as the layoffs of more than 1,200 staff members.

Bhattacharya has argued that the cuts are necessary since, “There’s been a line of research supported by the NIH that I don’t actually fundamentally believe is scientific and that is ideological in nature.”

The new NIH director became well known during the pandemic for his support of the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for ending lockdowns for all but the most vulnerable.