and vaccines and masks, from the early days that have eroded trust across the country and put hesitancy in the space between the lifesaving drug and vaccine and the person getting that drug or vaccine. that trust is hard to rebuild. because of that gap, we are seeing many americans die, who did not need to. if they could've just had the truth about the effectiveness of those drugs and vaccines, at the beginning. >> thank you. my time is up. i yield back, mr. chairman. >> thank you, gentle man. the chair is now going to have a five minute recess.

the chair will now recognize most renters for five minutes. >> thank you, very much mr. chairman. thank you, very much mr. chairman. before i race my question, i would like to thank you for the work that you have done in sharing this very special committee. you have been able to provide the leadership to give transparency to some of the faults that we have experienced, during this pandemic. i am very pleased that i've had the opportunity to work with you. i believe that the report that you will be putting out today will be very helpful in informing us on what we need to

do for the future. again, thank you very much. i have a question. i have a question that has almost been answered. the question is, when the coronavirus pandemic began, racial minorities experienced higher rates of infection and death. in the first half of 2020, the death rate among black and latino people was much higher than for white people, and every age cat up -- category. you led the public health response in illinois, during the critical juncture. did you observe these inequities? what was the cause of poor outcome in the communities of color? when i listen to your testimony, i heard some of the answers to

the questions that i am raising. i would like to add a little bit to the question, to have you share with us your opinion about whether or not we had too much bureaucracy in the business. yes, we know that blacks and latinos have died this proportionately -- disproportionately. we know seniors receiving medicare are overwhelmed with paperwork that they cannot handle. what can you tell us about the death rates and bureaucracy? we absolutely did see is significant increase in the mortality rates in our communities of color and black and brown communities, compared to their white counterparts.

>> mystics and shared, some of -- mystics and shared that was related to the members of the black and brown communities going to work every day. going to work every day, and the early days of the pandemic, when there was not adequate testing. there was no vaccine. that was obviously a prime opportunity for exposure and subsequent spread and illness and worse. we saw that there. we also some difficulties getting out the right information to allow people to understand ways that they could protect themselves to try to promote contact tracing. all of those things were slow in getting off the ground. there are people who suffered the consequences.

i think it is foundational that when you tell someone that they are sick, or when someone knows that there sick but knows that staying home might result in them becoming homeless, not being able to put food on the table for their children, that's the choice. it puts a fine point on the need for paid sick leave. tackling the health inequities also involves dealing with the baseline chronic diseases that are higher in our black and brown committees. diabetes and cardiovascular disease and city are significant. we need to address those health conditions. >> thank you so very much. i yield back.

>> i think you very much. the chair now records that -- the turnout recognizes mr. foster for five minutes. >> thank you for your contributions to this selectivity.

>> one of the reasons why many people lean toward the idea of having either an oral or nasal vaccine, aside from decreasing what is called vaccine hesitancy

is being able to impede upon transmission by inducing what is called immunity. that is a level of immunity that is in your nose and around her mouth. i think those types of vaccine technologies are far out. while there are people, scientist, and companies working on those types of technologies, the developments are not at the place and worn to the place they would be developed quickly. my ideal vaccine would be a vaccine that covers some level of breath for then known variants of coronavirus and others. variants of coronavirus that may pop up. and vaccine that could be a technology that is more affecting, whether that is up

routine based vaccine, intranasal vaccine. i am having -- i am all for having vaccines that people will be more accepting of. lastly, a technology that is affordable and are free for all people. that's my ideal vaccine. >> you one have a swing at this? >> yes sir. what would you like in the next generation vaccine? >> i think i would echo all those comments. i will answer a question you may not want. i think the kinds of things you talk about our high risk platform ideas. congress generously funded blank for those platform things. the mrna vaccine was originally funded by darpa. to make that big step, i agreed with the professor. we are not quite there yet.

these kinds of fundamental investments to allow in intranasal vaccine or one that you could apply with the band-aid. those are possible. those are high risk investments that may be 10 or 15 years from now. we will have forgotten about that. people and my family pass out when they see a needle. >> dr. ebright? >> i think you for that important question. we have spent years working on intranasal vaccines and transdermal liver vaccines for the right reasons. they can be low cost. they can simulate different types of immunity. this can be longer-lasting. they are of long duration of immunity, low cost. they provide something that could be scalable and produced around the world. they can respond as quickly as possible.

the challenge has always been that we default to pouring the largest investment in the most proven technologies and we fail to then use that momentum or use some of those funds to bring these next generation technologies forward. then the crisis goes away. that money goes away. the next generation technologies are left in the holding game. that's why we need another work speed like event or organization to identify this next-generation. and get those over the finish line so we have a broader spectrum of vaccines for everyday diseases and pandemics of the future. >> thank you. out of time here. i should add to have a congress that has an attention span longer than mine. i yield back. >> thank you, gentlemen for yielding back. the chair now recognizes mr. jordan for any comments you may want to make.

>> would be ok if i ask more questions instead of a closing statement? >> yes, you may. >> thank you, mr. chairman. when the by the ministration told us the backs and get the virus where they guessing are lying? >> congressman, there were data in real terms trials that showed when they were vaccinated it did prevent time, the vaccine were preventing infection. as we know, the virus changed and wayne. >> when the biden administration said they couldn't transmit it where they guessing a line with that one? >> they were guessing that it could prevent infection and transmission? >> were you in the ministration when that happened? >> i was not a magician. >> was it misinformation to tell the american people sunday that wasn't true? you talk about misinformation.

to tell the american people things that aren't accurate, relative to not just the vaccine a whether you could get it and transmit it but about natural immunity. >> since the earliest days of the outbreak americans have been my two, sir. >> were those things from the buying administration? they said if you get the vaccine everything's can be fine. was that a lie? >> it is proven that the vaccine save lives. >> i'm asking, if you get the vaccine you will get the virus. that's obviously not true. was that misinformation? >> no sir. >> was a true statement? >> we know that the virus has changed. >> i appreciate the vaccine. i think it has helped. i certainly do. i'm not saying that. what they said. was that misinformation?

>> i said there have been a lot of misinformation from public health officials throughout this pandemic. >> no kidding, no kidding. when mr. raskin asked dr. ebright a question, they said people in the trump administration, experts, scientists were prevented from talking to the press. was that your experience? >> it was not my experience at all. >> it certainly wasn't the american peoples experience. particularly with one official in our government. i don't know if you could hear -- go at day or hour without hearing from dr. fallacy. -- dr. fauci. >> he was not. >> he was everywhere. men of the year, men of the decade. every cover of every magazine. there wasn't any gag order put

on you. you were allowed to talk, weren't you? >> i was. i went to any place that wanted me on tv. whatever their affiliation, time, whatever. i did it because that was part of my job. >> were they telling you couldn't talk to anyone? >> yes they did. we were gagged. all media requests were declined. >> why were you guy did gerard wasn't? who did you directly report to? >> i reported to bob, the assistant secretary. >> he said he had doubts about your integrity. with that have anything to do about why you were allowed to talk to the press? he said -- he said he was lying? >> did you approve a contract without going through proper

channels at the hhs, without talking to dr. redfield, dr. fauci, dr. wong? >> i did not. i was not allowed to. >> did you negotiate or look for possible employment opportunities? >> that is another fortunate lie in the testimony. i was not negotiating any employment while i was negotiating contract. who was that contract with? >> i have no idea. >> it says johnson & johnson. would you disagree with that? >> did you seek employment with johnson & johnson? dr. birx was. i saw her every day on tv.

dr. redfield, i saw him of the time. you weren't allowed to. >> many civil servants -- many scientists were not allowed to speak. >> was it misinformation when the biden administration told the american people that if you get the vaccine, you will get the virus? -- you won't get the virus? >> was not an accurate statement they told us that? >> the truth is that the vaccines are highly effective. >> was it an accurate statement to say? that came from government officials. you were the one who brought up misinformation. i didn't. >> sir, now we know -- >> your time has expire. >> i appreciate the courtesy. i yield back. >> thank you gentlemen, for

yielding back. the first question were in place of miss jordan's closing statement. i will proceed to mind. in a moment, we will conclude this hearing and turned to our business to which we will formally adopt the subcommittee's final report. before we do that, i want to thank all of today's witnesses for their testimony. your insight into what our nation my still to prepare for the next public health emergency has been invaluable, as we prepare to conclude the committee's work. i want to thank the members of the select subcommittee for joining me in this important endeavor for the past two and half years. i am also grateful for the by demonstrations leadership and that guiding us through the

coronavirus crisis. our nation is in a far better place than we were in january of 2021. now we must take action. to prevent such dark days from returning in the future. with that, without objections, submit additional written questions to the chair. these will be forwarded to the witnesses for their response. this hearing is adjourned. the witnesses are excused. we will ask that your places be taken by the clerk.