NIH Director: We Need a ‘Thorough, Expert-Driven, and Objective Investigation’

Francis Collins calls for a closer look at the lab-leak theory, and shares what most surprised him about the virus.

As Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, recounted the moment, his eyes welled with tears.

A few months before, he and his colleague Anthony Fauci had confided in each other their hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA had set the threshold for approval at 50 percent efficacy, roughly what the flu vaccine achieves each year. They would have been quite happy to hit 70 percent.

Then,...