This is just stupid. One million americans died due to the covid pandemic. Add up all the US war dead in US history and put that up against what covid did to the US. Covid was a weak killer compared to similar pandemic events like the plague named Yersinia Pestis after Pasteur’s assistant who identified the bug three centuries after the disease killed at least one third of Europe’s population. That was a pandemic. Plague killed people in 24 to 48 hours.
Title: Exclusive: Key US infectious diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation
Author: Not specified
Publication: Nature
Date: 13 February 2026
Summary:
Staff members at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have been instructed to remove "biodefense" and "pandemic preparedness" from the institute's web pages, according to emails obtained by Nature. The directive is part of a broader restructure under NIH director Jay Bhattacharya and acting NIAID director Jeffery Taubenberger, who announced a "complete transformation" away from the institute's historical focus on HIV, biodefense and pandemic preparedness.
About one-third of NIAID's $6.6 billion budget currently funds projects involving emerging infectious diseases and biodefense. The new vision will prioritize basic immunology and infectious diseases currently affecting Americans rather than predicting future diseases. The restructure follows the firing of previous NIAID director Jeanne Marrazzo after less than two years, succeeding Anthony Fauci who held the position for 38 years.
Critics warn the decision will leave the US more vulnerable to evolving pathogens. The restructure is also expected to consolidate NIAID's HIV/AIDS research division, which oversees $1.5 billion in projects. Almost 20% of NIH's 21,000-person workforce have been laid off or left voluntarily since Trump took office in January 2025.
Quotes:
"Just because we say we're going to stop caring about these issues doesn't make the issues go away — it just makes us less prepared." — Nahid Bhadelia, director of Boston University's Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases
"NIAID's work clearly neither prevented the pandemic nor prevented Americans from experiencing among the highest levels of all-cause excess mortality in the developed world during that time." — From Nature Medicine commentary by Bhattacharya, Taubenberger and Powers
"The new vision is remarkable not for what's included — but what's excluded. It almost paints a picture of 'one or the other'. In reality, these things interact with each other." — Nahid Bhadelia
"We know that there are groups of viruses that are more likely to cause illness, epidemics and pandemics, so it makes sense to study them." — Gigi Gronvall, biosecurity specialist at Johns Hopkins
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