Ousted top vaccine official amended his whistleblower complaint, alleging ongoing retaliation by HHS Director Alex Azar

Screenshot/60 Minutes

• Top vaccine scientist Dr. Rick Bright claimed he was still facing ongoing retaliation from the Trump administration after alleging in a whistleblower complaint that the government ignored his early warnings of the coronavirus.
• In April, Bright was removed as director of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which falls under the Health and Human Services Department. He was later reassigned to a lesser position at the National Institutes of Health, which is under HHS.
• Bright alleged that HHS Sec. Alex Azar was leading a "coordinated effort" against him and accused him of telling HHS employees to "refrain from doing anything that would help Dr. Bright be successful in his new role."
• At his new role at NIH, Bright was supposed to be working on virus diagnostic tests, but the complaint said he "is cut off from all vaccine work, cut off from all therapeutic work, and has a very limited role in the diagnostic work."
• The complaint went on to allege that BARDA's new acting director, Dr. Gary Disbrow, said Azar "was very angry with Dr. Bright and was 'on the war path.'"
• Disbrow refuted the claims in the complaint, saying he was "confused by these untrue statements and allegations, which distract from the important work we are doing in response to the coronavirus."
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An ousted top US health official amended his whistleblower complaint accusing the US of ignoring his early coronavirus warnings, claiming there is ongoing retaliation by Trump officials even after his ouster.

Dr. Rick Bright previously served as the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which falls under the jurisdiction of the Health and Human Services Department.

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