A Republican-led House select subcommittee has released its final report on the government's COVID-19 response.
The 520-page report summarized the committee's two-year effort investigating the virus' origins. It concluded the coronavirus "most likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China." The report cited factors like biological characteristics of the virus and illnesses among researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the fall of 2019.
The subcommittee also faulted the pandemic efforts of the World Health Organization and said that health officials and the Biden administration oversold the power of the vaccines to prevent transmission or infection.
The Biden administration came into power about one month into the rollout of the vaccines. Mass vaccinations started occurring late in the Trump administration.
“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a distrust in leadership. Trust is earned. Accountability, transparency, honesty, and integrity will regain this trust. A future pandemic requires a whole of America response managed by those without personal benefit or bias. We can always do better, and for the sake of future generations of Americans, we must. It can be done," said Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chair Brad Wenstrup.
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Republicans on the committee insisted that former government infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci pushed a false narrative about the virus' origins. The committee also claimed that Fauci's adviser Dr. David Morens "likely" lied to Congress during the committee's investigation.
Democrats on the committee submitted their own report, pushing back on the Republicans' assertions, including claims that Fauci misled Congress on the origins of the virus.
The two sides disagreed on the effectiveness of public health measures, such as vaccines, masks and social distancing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says measures such as masking and social distancing can help stop the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
"At the expense of coming together around forward-looking work to prevent and prepare for future pandemics, Select Subcommittee Republicans spent the 118th Congress advancing a political agenda that has contributed little to the essential work of getting ahead of future public health crises and saving future lives," Democrats on the committee wrote.
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