"Covidians" & Cults: Jay Bhattacharya's Immature Fantasies
15 Times Jay Bhattacharya Disqualified Himself for NIH Director

On November 23rd, 2024, Trump's pick for National Institute of Health Director, Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford Medicine, tweeted:
"It's telling that the covidian doctors of #medtwitter are leaving for the tech chamber of bluesky. After the disaster of the school closures, vax mandates, and toddler masking, public trust in academic medicine has collapsed. Pretending it hasn't is their only choice."
This is a rather elaborate fiction detached from reality - in recent polling, two-thirds of the public - also known as the overwhelming majority - do not believe we "overreacted" to the initial COVID-19 catastrophe. Under Twitter's new management, which gives protected status to racists, bigots, and anti-vaccine quacks such as Jay Bhattacharya, the userbase of Twitter has steadily dropped off (Mashable) since the change. The choice to permit targeted harassment, relentless abuse, and violent threats under the guise of protecting "free speech" has driven a significant number of medical and scientific professionals away from Twitter towards alternative social media platform Bluesky - behavior that your potential future NIH Director is endorsing as he claims victory over “covidian doctors.” It's also important to point out that what Bhattacharya considers the true "disaster" of the COVID-19 pandemic is not the massive death and disability that has occurred, but instead that there was any attempt to prevent needless suffering.
If you're unfamiliar with Jay Bhattacharya, it's worth reviewing Walker Bragman's extensive deep dive over at Important Context. To briefly summarize, Bhattacharya is a Stanford academic, who after graduating medical school never put in the work to attain a medical license and become a practicing doctor. In the initial calamity of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Jay developed a rather unhealthy professional jealously of frontline heroes and sought to exploit the disaster in order to forward his own career from the safety of his couch, whilst actual doctors and nurses risked (and sometimes lost) everything to save lives.
In the fall of 2020, Bhattacharya and his fellow laptop class academics, with significant backing from conservative billionaires - including the same Kochs who astroturfed the Tea Party (HuffPost) - launched the Great Barrington Declaration; a demand that the federal government organize a nationwide ritual sacrifice in which hundreds of millions of unvaccinated "low-risk" Americans (defined solely by Bhattacharya as those under 70) abandoned self-preservation and nakedly embraced the new SARS-CoV-2 virus less than a year before it emerged on our shores. This faith-based proposal was entirely ignorant of the medical literature about the original SARS-CoV-1 virus and its potential for serious harm, lasting years after the initial acute infection (NIH) - something now well documented as a result of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Jay Bhattacharya and the other GBD authors' proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by frontline doctors, scientific experts, and the general public in the fall of 2020.
After soundly losing the debate, Bhattacharya and his fellow travelers took to contrarian outlets & social media, masquerading as oppressed dissidents bravely standing alone on behalf of an innocent & benign virus.
It has become undeniable that Stanford Health Policy's Jay Bhattacharya struggles to discern his own narcissistic fantasies from scientific reality. For years now, Bhattacharya has slinged the anti-vax insult "Covidian" at anyone he deems inferior to his allegedly superior intellect - the term "Covidian," according to Jay Bhattacharya and fellow travelers in the anti-vaccine movement, includes:
Doctors & nurses that have actually treated COVID-19 patients
Scientists that research COVID-19 and it's negative effects on human health
Engineers who develop solutions to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission
Everyday people who wound up disabled by "mild" COVID-19 infections
Anyone using medical & engineering solutions such as vaccine boosters & N95 respirators to protect themselves from COVID-19
This is a rather staggeringly wide swath of people that Bhattacharya has deemed himself worthy to judge as his intellectual and moral inferior, with zero qualifications of his own beyond an online petition and some rather embarrassing academic papers.
In other words, anyone who does not reject all scientific evidence to the contrary and subscribe to a blind faith that SARS-CoV-2 is a benevolent & relatively harmless "respiratory" virus, which merely enters one lung and goes out the other, is a deranged "Branch Covidian;" a mental invalid compared to Jay Bhattacharya's superior intellect, and must be soundly dismissed and ridiculed for questioning Bhattacharya's supreme wisdom. Unfortunately for Jay, his incessant screeching of "Covidian" has done little more than broadcast his own ignorance about COVID-19, ethics, and science in general.

Let us review, from Bhattacharya's own Twitter account, just a few of the dozens of instances that Jay has slung the "Covidian" insult:
2022
01. Bhattacharya Thinks Preventing COVID-19 is “Brain-dead” and “Eating Minds.”
January 14th, 2022: "At this point, covidian policies -- the mandates, the school closures, the propaganda & fear-mongering, etc. --- are like zombies. Brain-dead, but still eating the minds of too many good people."
REALITY: At this time, schools were shutting down due to widespread outbreaks of COVID-19, during the deadliest month for pediatric COVID deaths on record for the entire pandemic. This is what the Great Barrington Declaration demanded in order to reach their fictionalized redefining of "herd immunity." Bhattacharya is not a medical doctor and thus could not be found treating these very sick children, when many wound up in the PICU. Nor would academic Bhattacharya volunteer to fill in for teacher shortages found nationwide, especially in Florida.
Bhattacharya makes it clear that his priorities lied with slinging childish insults and smears online, making endless demands of others, whilst never making any meaningful contributions of his own. It would later become widely understood that COVID-19 crosses the blood-brain barrier and can cause damage such as neurological and cognitive impairment, even in children. (PAI) Jay has never seriously acknowledged this groundbreaking research, immediately disqualifying him for the role of NIH Director.
02. Jay Thinks Anti-Vaccine Grifters Aren’t So Bad
January 29th, 2022: "The covidian absolutists are the most illiberal people I have ever encountered in my lifetime."
REALITY: Jay Bhattacharya was happy to embrace the anti-vaccine movement prior to this, and after - the most illiberal people anyone who works in medical science can possibly encounter. This comfort with embracing anti-vaxxers, and willingness to work under anti-vax scam artist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., immediately disqualifies Jay Bhattacharya from the role of Director of the National Institute of Health.
03. Studies Jay Doesn’t Like Are Merely “Covidian”
February 17th, 2022: "In the new academic discipline (such as it is) of covidian studies, control groups are an unnecessary nuisance. What is important is that misinformation be suppressed when The Science has spoken.”
REALITY: Jay Bhattacharya would brand any COVID-19 research that contradicts his rantings as merely "covidian," inferior, and readily dismissed. He was never interested in a "debate," the facts, or science. Making childish attacks on scientists who produce results that disprove his opinions immediately disqualifies Jay Bhattacharya from the role of National Institute of Health Director.
04. It’s Only Bad Behavior When the Other Side Does It
April 20th, 2022: "Abusive, bullying, smearing, & slander have been the price of opposing covidian orthodoxy. [Leana Wen] is right that female dissidents have faced the worst of it."
REALITY: Jay Bhattacharya has been a major ringheader and amplifier for harassment of female doctors, scientists, teachers, and concerned mothers. One of Bhattacharya's followers attempted to intimidate one female scientist journalist by threatening, "We're coming for all of it. All of you covidians are going down. You will surrender unconditionally or suffer severe consequences." Bhattacharya has never condemned misogynistic abuse from his own "team;" in fact endorsing and amplifying it on several occasions when it suits him. This disqualifies him from the role of National Institute of Health Director.
Leana Wen would later go on to amplify anti-vax talking points, (PAI) such as the conspiracy theory that there was an over-reporting of COVID-19 deaths, and that children suffer from the fictional concept of “immunity debt.” Both of these claims are completely false, and Leana has never apologized.
05. On SARS-CoV-2 Being Airborne:
May 20th, 2022: "I don't understand the point of the #COVIDisAirborne hashtag used by lockdown proponents. Well of course it is. That fact makes lockdowns and many covidian interventions even more useless than if the hash tag COVID was passed via surface contact."
REALITY: Bhattacharya never made an attempt to understand, because he prioritizes hearing the sound of his own voice over listening to scientific experts. Engineering solutions based in hard science, such as PPE respirators and HEPA filtration, were developed long before 2020 to remove airborne hazards, such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus, from shared air. This is a well-documented fact. (PAI) Jay has rejected the facts & condemned these scientific solutions as "useless" & "covidian" for contradicting one of the central pillars of his faith": that COVID-19 must be nakedly embraced. Bhattacharya’s refusal to accept basic science disqualifies him from the role of National Institute of Health Director.
06. On Long COVID, A Condition Afflicting Countless Millions of Americans:
June 18th, 2022: "The covidian razor: Everything bad is due to long covid. Except covid, which is due to covid."
REALITY: Jay Bhattacharya never factored Long COVID disability into his plans for the Great Barrington Declaration. Since 2021, he has frequently downplayed and dismissed a condition which is now affecting millions of Americans - often losing their careers, incomes, and homes as a result. Their existence invalidates the GBD and Bhattacharya's entire views around the COVID-19 pandemic in entirety. Jay's plan for the NIH, under direction of RFK, Jr. is to slash funding for curing and treating this condition, instead spending that money producing propaganda against essential public measures for future pandemic events, effectively rewriting history. This craven sadism disqualifies Bhattacharya for the role of NIH Director.
07. On Scientific Papers That Disprove Jay Bhattacharya:
July 8th, 2022: "During the pandemic, editors have been quick to publish bad papers that further the standard covidian narrative. Slower with papers that challenge it."
REALITY: Jay produces no evidence to support this outlandish claim. Bhattacharya is openly attacking any scientific research which invalidates his social media rantings as bunk, instead of acknowledging that new information has invalidated his previous claims about SARS-CoV-2. His aggressive, unprofessional insults at hardworking scientific researchers immediately disqualifies him from the role of National Institute of Health Director.
08. On The Future of the Great Barrington Declaration:
November 6th, 2022: "In a short time, not more than a few years, almost no one will admit being a covidian. Everyone will swear up and down they signed the [Great Barrington Declaraton]."
REALITY: In 2025, the list of GBD signees is no longer publicly available after it was made obvious that the online petition contained clearly fictional names such as "Dr. Fart." Nobody has ever self-identified as a "covidian." These childish antics disqualify Jay Bhattacharya from the role of National Institute of Health Director.
2023
09. Jay Claims Misogynist Alex Berenson “Resisted Covidian Madness:”

August 7th, 2023: "It was really fun to speak to [Alex Berenson.] He resisted covidian madness throughout the pandemic, at great personal cost."
REALITY: Alex Berenson is a rabid, abusive misogynistic troll who openly mocks and harasses women disabled by COVID-19 on Twitter and repeatedly declared the pandemic to be over throughout 2020. His "personal cost" was being a depraved crank that fell-in with the anti-vaccine crowd and lost all respect amongst decent people in civil society. Jay Bhattacharya's public support for abusive and exploitative anti-vaccine propagandists immediately disqualifies him for the role of National Institute of Health Director, or any professional role in the medical field.
10. Bhattacharya Endorses Canadian neo-Nazi Thugs, Posts anti-Semitic Dogwhistle
October 9th, 2023: "With the whole world watching, the Canadian truckers won an enormous civil rights victory for all Canadians. They struck an enormous blow against covidian authoritarian overreach. #HonkHonk"

REALITY: The 2022 Canadian trucker protestors were led by white supremacists who terrorized everyday Canadians, in such forms as public defecation and neo-Nazi vandalism. "Honk Honk" is a long-understood anti-Semitic dogwhistle for Heil Hitler, (Daily Dot) something that should have been grounds for Jay's immediate termination from Stanford University. This gross anti-Semitic misconduct immediately disqualifies Jay Bhattacharya from the role of National Institute of Health Director, as someone so morally depraved that they choose to align themselves with neo-Nazis.
11. Bhattacharya Doesn’t Realize He’s Lost All Respect Amongst the Medical Field
October 19th, 2023: "An organization of pharmacologists, the ACCP invited and then uninvited [Vinay Prasad] to give a talk at its national conference. A small group of covidian pharmacologists, embarrassed they got everything wrong about covid, has now embarrassed the ACCP."
REALITY: Anti-vaccine COVID-19 contrarians like UCSF's Vinay Prasad and Stanford's Jay Bhattacharya have completely destroyed their reputation amongst working medical and scientific professionals with real-world responsibilities beyond ranting online all day. The AACP rescinded their invitation to Prasad after it became clear that he would be giving his keynote to an empty room.
2024
12. Jay Doubles Down on Anti-Semitic Dogwhistles in Support of Canadian neo-Nazis
January 23rd, 2024: "Justin Trudeau violated the basic civil rights of the hero Canadian trucker protestors, who freed Canada from Trudeau's covidian tyranny. Glad to hear of this new court ruling."
A "Honk Honk" .gif is attached, following his previous "HH" dogwhistle from last October.
REALITY: Jay Bhattacharya's repeated insistence of repeating anti-Semitic dogwhistles in support of violent white supremacist thugs urinating in public and spraying Nazi swastikas in 2022 - which he chooses to misclassify as "hero trucker protestors," immediately disqualifies Jay Bhattacharya from the role of National Institute of Health Director. Anti-Semitism has no place in government.
13. Bhattacharya Thinks There’s a Covidian “Faith”
March 22nd, 2024: "I got to meet my good friend, Br. @NahasNewman in real life today! Over the years, he has taught me more about the mysteries of the covidian faith than I ever wanted to know."
REALITY: In the fall of 2020, just months before a COVID-19 vaccine would be widely available, Jay Bhattacharya demanded that hundreds of millions of Americans take a leap of faith and nakedly embrace a new deadly & disabling virus that neither Jay nor most Americans knew anything about. Jay is so blinded by his faith in the benevolence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, that he smears those who use scientific measures to protect themselves from COVID-19 as "covidian" cultists.
14. Jay Bhattacharya Lies About Vaccine Mandates
April 3rd, 2024: "New @nberpubs paper by @sungbin_park_, @JCMecon, @AboukRahi, and John S. Earle finds that state-level covid vax mandates exacerbated shortages of nurses & health care workers in 2021. Hard to overstate how counterproductive covidian vax coercion is/was. nber.org/papers/w32286"
REALITY: Bhattacharya is outright lying here. What the paper actually says is that "Our findings suggest that vaccine mandates may have worsened healthcare workforce shortages" - The results are inconclusive and meant to drive divisive headlines, when the reality is that vaccine mandates have long been routine for healthcare workers. In the real world, COVID-19 has been disabling nurses and other frontline healthcare workers, driving them out of the healthcare workforce. (IOSH) Jay cannot tell the truth, and clearly cannot read medical research, rendering him incapable of serving as director of the National Institute of Health.
15. Jay Falsely Claims His Beloved GBD Would Have Protected Working Class Americans
July 20th, 2024: "Apparently, the covidian cult thinks 'we' had to destroy the health and well being of children, the poor, and the working class to fail to protect the elderly from covid. There was another way for those with eyes to see... [Great Barrington Declaration]. Lockdown = let it rip among the poor"
REALITY: Repeated COVID-19 infections are linked to serious health issues amongst children, (PAI) and increased risk for health complications later in life. Bhattacharya has never acknowledged this reality, nor made a serious proposal how the GBD would "protect the elderly from COVID," beyond absurd fantasies that 3-6 months of infecting hundreds of millions of "low risk" Americans would shield the elderly via a childish reimagining of herd immunity, which has only come from vaccination. Jay Bhattacharya's inability to understand basic epidemiological concepts & stay up to date on the latest science about SARS-CoV-2 immediately disqualifies him from the role of Director of the National Institute of Health.
Final Verdict
Skewered by his own words, Jay Bhattacharya disqualifies himself from the role of Director of the National Institute of Health. Jay makes it clear that his priorities are slinging insults online, spewing blatant falsehoods, and judging others as his inferior. Bhattacharya has produced an endless stream of impossible demands, without ever having to make any meaningful contributions of his own.
Jay Bhattacharya also reveals that he has never had a serious interest in SARS-CoV-2 or its potential for serious harm, much less understanding the well-established science of how to prevent COVID-19, whilst failing at basic literacy and arithmetic. In truth, the true "cult" here is not "Covidians," but instead the one that places a blind faith in the supposed benevolence of COVID-19. Membership in this cult demands that you be willingly ignorant if not outwardly aggressive towards the mountains of scientific evidence showing COVID-19's potential for harm, especially beyond the acute phase of infection.
Jay Bhattacharya's priority is not science or medicine, but instead being a loudmouthed, immature crank that openly embraces the abusive quackery of anti-vaccine cranks, abusive misogynists, and white supremacists. Jay prioritizes devout contrarianism over accepting scientific reality, giving his opinions weight over well-documented facts. The National Institute of Health is one of the world's leading hubs for medical research and works with many hard-working scientists and doctors who often make critical scientific and medical breakthroughs which have saved countless lives around the globe. To assign an unprofessional, fiction-based contrarian such as Jay Bhattacharya as National Institute of Health Director would be a cruel and humiliating waste of crucial time and resources, especially when COVID-19 is creating an ever-growing burden of chronic illness, disability, and other serious health complications in our population.
Congress cannot confirm Jay Bhattacharya as NIH Director, and much like he was laughed out of the Supreme Court, should be rejected with extreme prejudice for his many years of failures and incompetence that he masks with an endless stream of arrogant, immature bile. Sadly, liberal pundits like Zeynep Tufekci of the New York Times are declaring that Bhattacharya is “qualified,” after years of doing nothing except foolish bloviating in front of a camera.
Contact your Congressperson, as well as the Senate Health Committee, quote from or send them this article, and demand that a serious nominee for NIH Director is brought before Congress, instead of another worthless pestilence sycophant that will do nothing but cripple the National Institute of Health during such a crucial moment.
UPDATE: You can read our follow-up to this piece here.
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