Dr. Birx to Newsmax: Ensure Gain-of-Function Labs Follow ‘Strict Guidelines’

Dr. Deborah Birx, former White House COVID-19 response coordinator, told Newsmax that laboratories conducting gain-of-function research need to implement strict guidelines.

Joining “The Record with Greta Van Susteren” on Thursday, the health professional emphasized the need to ensure research safety so another lab leak, like potentially what occurred with COVID, does not occur.

“This country has not taken viral diseases seriously,” Birx stated. “We’ve spent so much money worrying about AMR [antimicrobial resistance] and zoonotic events. Yet, we have viruses circulating in humans that we’re not diagnosing, that we’re not developing treatments for, and we’re not developing vaccines for.”

Birx further argued that scientists need to reevaluate the gain-of-function research being done and “ensure that every institution and every research institution is following very strict guidelines.”

“We restrict those agents that we knew could actually kill individuals for decades — and they’re very tightly controlled. But we have been very blasé about many viruses out there that can be altered,” she emphasized.

Birx later urged that United States embassies in foreign countries test wastewater to understand what diseases are circulating worldwide.

“We wouldn’t have to wait for another country to tell us. We would know what’s circulating in the population,” she insisted.

When criticizing the World Health Organization (WHO) for its blind spot on COVID when it first emerged, Birx was careful to still advocate for the necessity of global cooperation in fighting diseases.

“I think we need a parallel system that really allows us to go beyond the WHO,” Birx said.

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