Jay Bhattacharya

I've very clearly and cleanly said that I think that the evidence is strong that you should do that.

For most of the vast majority of kids, probably all kids, right?

So, you know, you heard me say that, right?

Do I think that six-month-old kids should get the COVID vaccine?

Right.

Most kids, I think the answer is no, right?

And yet the CDC, up until relatively recently, was recommending that kids as young as six months old get the COVID vaccine.

So, I mean, I think there's room for nuance, there's room for humility, and that is exactly what we're trying to bring in.

I think we've had enough of salesmen.

I actually have tremendous respect for Bobby.

And, you know, I don't always necessarily agree with him substantively, but he listens to me and he tells me his points of view.

He points me to papers and, you know, I learn from those papers.

Like I just, it's hard to, like the caricature of him I've seen in the press is just totally unfair, right?

I've seen him change his mind when I've sent papers to him or given him evidence or reasoning.

And I think that if I had the choice between someone like the former head of HHS, who was not a doctor either, and was much more in this sort of salesman mode, politician salesman mode, or Bobby, I think Bobby will ultimately be better for American public health.

I mean, I'll tell you, when the president asked me to be the NIH director, the task that he gave me was to make sure that the American biomedical research establishment was the best in the world.

There's a real sense inside the Trump administration of a tremendous challenge from the Chinese biomedical infrastructure.

And I mean, that's the task that he gave me.

Now, Congress and the budget folks fight over the exact amount of the budget.

And my job is take the budget that we get.