Outgoing NIH Head Urges Vaccinations on Fox News: ‘Do We Want to Lose Another Couple 100,000 Lives’?

Dr. Francis Collins sat down with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto after announcing he’s stepping down as director of the National Institutes of Health.

Collins explained he’s ready to leave after serving as head of the NIH after 12 years. He said “it’s time for new leadership” and expressed he’s not at all worried about how it will continue after he leaves.

He did admit Dr. Anthony Fauci tried to talk him out of resigning, “but he totally got it and understood.”

Cavuto asked him if the timing of his resignation is in any way connected to questions of what the NIH knew about the lab in Wuhan.

“No, it didn’t,” Collins responded. “Our funding of that research and the Wuhan Institute of Virology was a million miles away in terms of the genome of the virus that we’re talking about, and to draw that connection is frankly absolutely not supportable by the data.”

He said he still believes natural origin is the most likely theory, but “can’t rule out the possibility” of a lab leak.

Cavuto went on to ask him about the vaccine mandates for businesses across the country.

“Do you think this is going too far, the mandate issue, or are you okay with it if it leads to more vaccinations, fewer covid cases?” he asked.

“I’m okay with it if it’s going to save lives,” Collins said.

We’ve lost 700,000 people to this disease, and at least 100,000 of them didn’t need to die if we’d been able to get vaccines accepted by people who have still had trouble seeing why they would want them. And I’m sorry if it has to go to this direction of becoming more heavy-handed in a mandate, but do we want to lose another couple 100,000 lives that didn’t really have to be lost? It just feels like this is the the moment to do that. And remember, people who are rejecting vaccination, it’s not just about themselves. It’s about okay, who else will you infect when you get sick? This is a community responsibility. Freedom is not just about rights. It’s also about responsibilities. And if we want to end this pandemic, we’ve all got to be willing to do our part.

You can watch above, via Fox News.

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