The Biden Administration has taken its strongest action against China on covid-19 so far. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) decided that the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the epicenter of research into the origins of the virus, can no longer access federal funding.
According to Bloomberg, this firm resolution was adopted after the laboratory ignored requests from the U.S. Government to provide reports on biosafety measures and practices at its facilities. This cut in federal funding could be permanent.
The management of the Chinese laboratory has not yet reacted to this sanction, although it will be able to challenge it in the future.
When did the Wuhan Institute of Virology obtain U.S. funding?
According to Bloomberg information, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a grant to the EcoHealth Alliance, a non-governmental body whose goal is to prevent humans, animals and the environment from emerging infectious diseases, in 2014. Part of that grant went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Nine years after that appropriation, HHS conducted an audit of both the NIH and the EcoHealth Alliance, the audit revealed that both agencies were not adequately performing oversight of grants and subcontracts. This fact led directly to the questioning of whether federally funded centers, such as the Wuhan Institute of Virology, complied with biosafety and other requirements.
