Sen. Rand Paul calls for Anthony Fauci to resign in latest clash over origins of COVID-19

WASHINGTON —  Dr. Anthony Fauci and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., clashed at a Senate hearing Thursday over the origins of COVID-19, the latest in a series of high-profile skirmishes between the nation's top infectious disease expert and the junior senator from Kentucky.

COVID-19’s origin has been a subject of global debate since the start of the outbreak. Yet scientists around the world have not reached a clear conclusion on how the pandemic started. 

Paul and Fauci sparred over whether the National Institutes of Health funded "gain-of-function" research, the process of altering a pathogen’s transmissibility to help predict emerging diseases, at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The COVID-19 pandemic began in Wuhan, China, and some have speculated about whether the institute there was involved in the spread of the virus.

“The facts are clear, the NIH (National Institutes of Health) did fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan, despite your protestations,” Sen. Paul said. 

Fauci objected, but Paul again attacked the scientist.

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“Until you accept responsibility, we’re not going to get anywhere close to trying to prevent another lab leak of this dangerous sort of experiment,” Paul said. “You won’t admit that it’s dangerous, and for that lack of judgment I think it’s time that you resign.”

“You have said that I am unwilling to take any responsibility for the current pandemic. I have no responsibility for the current pandemic,” Fauci said. He went on to clarify that current evidence indicates that COVID-19 naturally occurred and that he continues to support research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Paul interrupted once again, saying, “if he’s going to be dishonest he ought to be challenged.”

“As usual, and I have a great deal of respect for this body of the Senate, and it makes me very uncomfortable to have to say something, but he is egregiously incorrect in what he says,” Fauci concluded.

“History will figure that out on its own,” Paul retorted.

The two officials have a history of sparring publicly. Paul grilled Fauci in July over whether the NIH funded what Paul called gain-of-function research.

The hearing comes two days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech for children ages 5 through 11. The decision was in line with the Food and Drug Administration, which authorized emergency use of the pediatric dose on Friday. 

Connecticut's Hartford hospital delivered some of the first early childhood doses Tuesday night. At a White House briefing Wednesday, President Joe Biden said the administration has secured enough vaccine supply for every American child.

In September, a group of 16 virologists, biologists and biosecurity specialists signed a letter urging more research on the issue in the weekly peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet.