President-elect Trump selected a critic of COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates to lead the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is known for co-authoring the Great Barrington Declaration, a 2020 manifesto that advocated allowing COVID to spread in order to achieve herd immunity.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya argued against COVID-19 lockdowns and was in favor of using herd immunity to fight the pandemic.

The Stanford professor was appointed Tuesday to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya has previously made controversial critiques of lockdowns and vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.