COVID-19
COVID Lab Leak: Over four later, EcoHealth Alliance funding is finally suspended
From Heartland Daily News
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Federal Funding Stripped From Nonprofit at Center of COVID Lab Leak Controversy
Today, the Biden administration suspended federal funding to the scientific nonprofit whose research is at the center of credible theories that the COVID-19 pandemic was started via a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
This morning, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it was immediately suspending three grants provided to the New York-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance (EHA) as it starts the process of debarring the organization from receiving any federal funds.
“The immediate suspension of [EcoHealth Alliance] is necessary to protect the public interest and due to a cause of so serious or compelling a nature that it affects EHA’s present responsibility,” wrote HHS Deputy Secretary for Acquisitions Henrietta Brisbon in a memorandum signed this morning.
For years now, EcoHealth has generated immense controversy for its use of federal grant money to support gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab.
In a memo justifying its funding suspension, HHS said that EcoHealth had failed to properly monitor the work it was supporting at Wuhan. It also failed to properly report on the results of experiments showing that the hybrid viruses it was creating there had an improved ability to infect human cells.
Congressional Republicans leading an investigation into EcoHealth’s research in Wuhan, and the role it may have played in starting the pandemic via a lab leak, cheered HHS’s decision.
“EcoHealth facilitated gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China without proper oversight, willingly violated multiple requirements of its multimillion-dollar National Institutes of Health [NIH] grant, and apparently made false statements to the NIH,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R–Ohio), chair of the House’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in a statement. “These actions are wholly abhorrent, indefensible, and must be addressed with swift action.”
Beginning in 2014, EcoHealth received a grant from NIH’s National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to study bat coronavirus in China. Its initial scope of work involved collecting and cataloging viruses in the wild and studying them in the lab to spot which ones might be primed to “spillover” into humans and cause a pandemic.
Soon enough, EcoHealth used some of the viruses they’d collected to create “chimeric” or hybrid viruses that might be better able to infect human lung cells in genetically engineered (humanized) mice.
This so-called “gain-of-function” research has long been controversial for its potential to create deadly pandemic pathogens. In 2014, the Obama administration paused federal funding of gain-of-function research that might turn SARS, MERS, or flu viruses into more transmissible respiratory diseases in mammals.
In 2016, NIH flagged EcoHealth’s work as likely violating the 2014 pause.
EcoHealth President Peter Daszak argued to NIH at the time that the viruses his outfit was creating had not been proven to infect human cells and were genetically different enough from past pandemic viruses that they didn’t fall under the Obama administration pause.
Wuhan Institute of Virology and Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance
NIH accepted this argument under the condition that EcoHealth immediately stop its work and notify the agency if any of its hybrid viruses did show increased viral growth in humanized mice.
But when these hybrid viruses did show increased viral growth in mice, EcoHealth did not immediately stop work or notify NIH. It instead waited until it submitted an annual progress report in 2018 to disclose the results of its experiments.
A second progress report that EcoHealth submitted in 2021, two years after its due date, also showed its hybrid viruses were demonstrating increased viral growth and enhanced lethality in humanized mice.
In testimony to the House’s coronavirus subcommittee earlier this month, Daszak claimed that EcoHealth attempted to report the results of its gain-of-function experiments on time in 2019, but was frozen out of NIH’s reporting system.
The HHS memo released today says a forensic investigation found no evidence that EcoHealth was locked out of NIH’s reporting system. The department also said that EcoHealth had failed to produce requested lab notes and other materials from the Wuhan lab detailing the work being done there and the lab’s biosafety conditions.
These all amount to violations of EcoHealth’s grant agreement and NIH grant policy, thus warranting debarment from future federal funds, reads the HHS memo.
That EcoHealth would be stripped of its federal funding shouldn’t come as too great a shock to anyone who watched Daszak’s congressional testimony from earlier this month. Even Democrats on the committee openly accused Daszak of being misleading about EcoHealth’s work and manipulating facts.
Rep. Raul Ruiz (D–Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House’s coronavirus subcommittee, welcomed EcoHealth’s suspension, saying in a press release that the nonprofit failed its “obligation to meet the utmost standards of transparency and accountability to the American public.”
An HHS Office of the Inspector General report from last year had already found that EcoHealth had failed to submit progress reports on time or effectively monitor its subgrantee, the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
When grilling Daszak, Democrats on the Coronavirus Subcommittee went to great lengths to not criticize NIH’s oversight of EcoHealth’s work. The HHS debarment memo likewise focuses only on EcoHealth’s failures to abide by NIH policy and its grant conditions.
Nevertheless, it seems pretty obvious that NIH was failing to abide by the 2014 pause on gain-of-function funding when it allowed EcoHealth to go ahead with creating hybrid coronaviruses under the condition that they stop if the viruses did prove more virulent.
NIH compounded that oversight failure by not stopping EcoHealth’s funding when the nonprofit did, in fact, create more virulent viruses, and not following up on a never-submitted progress report detailing more gain-of-function research until two years later.
The House Subcommittee’s investigation into NIH’s role in gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab is ongoing. Tomorrow it will interview NIH Principal Deputy Director Lawerence Tabak. In June, it will interview former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci.
Originally published by Reason Foundation. Republished with permission.
Freedom Convoy
Freedom Convoy leader Chris Barber to learn in July whether or not he could face jail time
From LifeSiteNews
Chris Barber could receive a possible two-year sentence for his role in the 2022 protests after being found guilty of mischief.
Freedom Convoy leader Chris Barber will learn on July 21 whether or not he could face jail time when a ruling on a request for a stay of proceedings in his case will be announced by a judge.
Barber is facing potential jail time for his role in the 2022 protests that saw him being found guilty of mischief as well as the possible forfeiture of the truck he used in the convoy.
Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich announced on X that Barber’s request for a stay of proceedings was forthcoming.
“We attended court yesterday (virtually) to wrap up Chris’ Stay of Proceedings hearing. Her Honour will deliver her decision on this matter on the morning of July 21,” Lich wrote on X late last week.
“Following that we will begin the sentencing hearing which is scheduled for July 21, 23 and 25, likely kicking off with the Crown’s forfeiture order for Big Red.”
In April, Barber said that the Crown is seeking a two-year jail sentence against him and is also looking to seize the truck he used in the protest. As a result, his legal team asked for a stay of proceedings.
He and his legal team have argued that all proceedings should be stopped because he “sought advice from lawyers, police and a Superior Court Judge” regarding the legality of the 2022 protest. If his application is granted, Barber would avoid any jail time.
In April, both Lich and Barber were found guilty of mischief for their roles as leaders of the 2022 protest and as social media influencers despite the non-violent nature of the demonstration.
Lich is to be sentenced on July 23.
The Lich and Barber trial concluded in September 2024, more than a year after it began. It was only originally scheduled to last 16 days.
Lich and Barber were initially arrested on February 17, 2022, meaning their legal battle has lasted longer than three years.
Despite the peaceful nature of the Freedom Convoy, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government invoked the Emergencies Act to clear-out protesters, an action a federal judge has since said was “not justified.” During the clear-out, an elderly lady was trampled by a police horse and many who donated to the cause had their bank accounts frozen.
The actions taken by the Trudeau government were publicly supported by Mark Carney at the time, who won re-election on April 28.
This article supplied by Troy Media.
By Perry Kinkaide
Our youth are facing mental health struggles, disrupted education, and stunted social development due to Canada’s failed pandemic policies
The evidence is irrefutable: Canada’s response to COVID-19 betrayed its youth. Policies like school closures, social isolation and activity restrictions, meant to protect, ended up stunting the social, emotional and educational development of an entire generation.
While many adults navigated the pandemic with relative ease, Canadian youth, biologically the least vulnerable, suffered disproportionately. The damage is still unfolding, leaving lasting effects on their mental health, education and social development.
Young Canadians are now bearing the psychological and social scars of these misguided policies. Mental health struggles surged, with anxiety, depression and social isolation peaking in the years following the onset of the pandemic.
Research from the Québec Resilience Project confirms this, showing that mental health challenges among adolescents have remained high, even after restrictions were finally lifted. These struggles were not caused by the virus itself, but by the policies meant to protect them.
The impact is stark when compared to other countries. In nations like Sweden, Finland and Norway, where schools remained open, youth experienced far less disruption. They were able to maintain social connections, mental stability and routines—key to preserving their development during the pandemic.
By contrast, Canadian youth endured some of the longest school closures, with Ontario shutting down schools for over 26 weeks, more than double the global average. Canada’s extended school closures and social isolation were a profound misjudgment, failing to prioritize youth well-being.
While many youth were harmed, some were able to adapt and overcome the impact. Some, particularly those with strong family support, resilient routines and access to digital learning tools, adapted remarkably. Resilience, however, is not just an individual trait; it reflects the support systems in place. Those with resources to maintain normalcy were better able to recover, while those without such support were left behind.
The crisis has shown that the challenges facing youth are far more complex than originally thought. A generation is now grappling with emotional disengagement, academic delays and difficulties forming meaningful relationships. These issues will have long-term consequences, affecting not only their personal lives but also the broader Canadian economy.
We must recognize the full impact of these setbacks, especially regarding education and workforce readiness. The mental and social toll of these
disruptions will be felt for years to come.
This failure was not just the result of reactive public health policies; it was a failure of a system that de-prioritized youth needs. Young people were treated as threats to public health rather than as citizens with developmental needs. Adult focused activities, such as retail and liquor stores, remained open, while schools, sports and social activities—essential for youth development—were shut down.
This policy overreach wasn’t just avoidable; it was a betrayal of the next generation.
Now, as we emerge from this crisis, Canada faces a crucial choice: ignore the long-term consequences or confront the painful reality of how we failed our youth. The damage is not just a public health issue—it’s a societal one, impacting the mental and emotional well-being of an entire generation. Canada owes its youth more than apologies. It owes them a future free from the mistakes of the past.
Governments, educators, mental health systems and communities must step up—not just with lip service, but with meaningful action. We must rebuild the systems that support youth development, ensuring that this generation is not defined by the failed policies that stunted their growth.
The clock is ticking, and the question is no longer “What happened to our youth?” It’s “What are we doing to ensure this never happens again?”
Dr. Perry Kinkaide is a visionary leader and change agent. Since retiring in 2001, he has served as an advisor and director for various organizations and founded the Alberta Council of Technologies Society in 2005. Previously, he held leadership roles at KPMG Consulting and the Alberta Government. He holds a BA from Colgate University and an MSc and PhD in Brain Research from the University of Alberta
Troy Media empowers Canadian community news outlets by providing independent, insightful analysis and commentary. Our mission is to support local media in helping Canadians stay informed and engaged by delivering reliable content that strengthens community connections and deepens understanding across the country
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