Addressing concerns about getting the COVID-19 vaccine – PBS NewsHour

Francis Collins:

You know, I think it was a confusing time back then, Judy.

First, let me say I do think we need to get answers here. An investigation is very much needed.

What was happening, though, back in February and March of 2020 were, a number of different theories were being floated. One that was particularly prominent was the idea that this vaccine I mean sorry this virus was actually engineered intentionally, that it was a product of bioweapon manufacture.

That, when you looked at the actual letters of the code of this virus, was not tenable. And there's a paper published about that in "Nature Medicine" by Kristian Andersen and others that I got very engaged in reviewing.

So, unfortunately, that particular conspiracy didn't seem supportable. And so the idea that it was, on the other hand, a lab accident, where they were studying this virus, which maybe did occur in nature, but it got loose in the lab, that theory didn't get nearly as much attention perhaps as it should have.

I will tell you, it was always on my mind. I know it was on Tony Fauci's mind. But none of us ran to the microphone to say, we need to worry about the fact this could have been a lab leak.

It at the present time, we have no more data or less data to support that. Suddenly, it's emerged in a lot of people's minds as, oh, that's the leading explanation.

I don't know how to say that. I still think a natural origin is the most likely explanation of how SARS-CoV-2 came to be.

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Addressing concerns about getting the COVID-19 vaccine - PBS NewsHour