NIH Director Collins: 'Not Clear That That Much Gets Accomplished' with COVID Shutdowns

During an interview aired on Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins stated that he agrees with President Joe Biden ruling out shutdowns over the Omicron variant and that “it’s not clear that that much gets accomplished” with shutdowns, while there are “lots of consequences there for businesses, for schools.”

Collins said that “we’re doing it about right, right now” with our response to the Omicron variant.

He continued, “Shutdowns are obviously draconian measures, and it’s not clear that that much gets accomplished by those sorts of steps in communities and there’s obviously lots of consequences there for businesses, for schools. So, I think the president’s right to sort of take those off the table right now, but also to emphasize the things we can do.”

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