Originally published August 3, 2023 8:40 am PDT
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected Dr. Jeanne M. Marrazzo as the new director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
The announcement was made by Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., acting director for the NIH.
Currently serving as the director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Marrazzo is slated to assume her new role this fall.
Dr. Tabak praised the new NIAID director, stating, “Dr. Marrazzo brings a wealth of leadership experience from leading international clinical trials and translational research, managing a complex organizational budget that includes research funding and mentoring trainees in all stages of professional development.”
He extended his gratitude to Hugh Auchincloss, Jr., M.D., who served as acting director of NIAID after Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., stepped down in December 2022.
Dr. Tabak added, “I look forward to welcoming Dr. Marrazzo to the NIH leadership team.”
In her new role, Dr. Marrazzo will be managing NIAID’s considerable budget of $6.3 billion, aimed at supporting research for advancing understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.
Marrazzo’s work focuses on the human microbiome, HIV prevention, and the management of bacterial vaginosis, sexually transmitted diseases in HIV-infected individuals, and antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea.
A Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Dr. Marrazzo is board certified in infectious disease.
She obtained her bachelor’s in biology from Harvard University, M.D. from Thomas Jefferson University, and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Washington, Seattle.
It should be noted that Marrazzo is a vocal proponent of mask-wearing and vaccinations.
In a June 2020 video announcement, she urged Americans to wear masks as the “most effective way” to prevent coronavirus transmission.
Health officials have now acknowledged that there is inadequate evidence to support the notion that medical-grade face masks, including N95, KN95, and FFP2 types, provide protection for vulnerable individuals against COVID-19.
The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published a rapid review report investigating whether masks protect those at high risk from the disease, but was unable to find any scientific research with “usable data” to address the question.
The rapid review examined 4,371 studies but found none that explored the effectiveness of N95 and equivalent masks for those at a higher risk of severe illness when used within community settings.
“The review did not identify any studies for inclusion, and so could provide no evidence to answer the research question,” the authors said. “No studies matching the inclusion criteria were found, so no evidence could be presented.”
In May 2021, Marrazzo revealed that even though she was fully vaccinated, she would continue to wear a mask indoors.
Two months later, she blamed the spread of COVID on the unvaccinated.
“So much transmission in our community because a majority of people are not vaccinated,” she claimed in July 2021. “The opportunity for little kids to get infected is much higher than where the vaccination rate is much higher.”
However, we now know that the more COVID vaccines that are taken, the higher the likelihood of being infected with COVID.
A recently published peer-reviewed study in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases confirmed that the risk of contracting COVID-19 is higher among those who have received more COVID vaccines.
“The higher the number of vaccines previously received, the higher the risk of contracting COVID-19,” the study authors concluded.
This explains why COVID hospitalizations in the U.S. are rising for the first time since the beginning of 2023.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website says there have been 8,035 COVID hospitalizations this past week, per data through July 22, 2023, representing a 12.1% increase.
However, the health agency admits that 81.4% of the American population has been vaccinated against the disease.
This means that the “new Covid-19 surge” has come after a majority of the U.S. received at least one vaccine, raising questions about the jab’s efficacy.
