NIH Director Collins: Migrants Spreading COVID-19 ‘Distraction,’ Unvaccinated the ‘Problem’

National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins said on this week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday” that raising concerns over COVID-19 cases among migrates at the U.S.-Mexico border is a “distraction.”

In a video, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said, “Whatever variance are around the world, they are coming across that southern border, so he’s not shutting down the virus. He’s helping to facilitate it in our country.”

Anchor Chris Wallace said, “You talk about dealing with the science, dealing with facts, I’m going to ask you about that. Parts of Texas, the positivity rate for COVID among some of the illegal migrants coming across the border is over 10%. How responsible are they for spreading this wave of COVID that is sweeping the country right now?”

Collins said, “It certainly a cause of concern. They have very significant masking requirements there, but it is certainly possible. But, you know, let nobody try to say that’s why the U.S. is in trouble. The rate of infection in Mexico is actually lower than it is right now in places like Texas and Louisiana and Florida. I think that’s a bit of a distraction. We’ve got enough of a problem with her own citizens who have refused to roll up their sleeves. So maybe that would be a better thing to focus on if we’re trying to end this. That seemed like it was not going to get us where we need to be. It’s an issue, but it’s certainly not the cause of our current dilemma.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN