COVID select subcommittee releases final report that could help prevent future pandemic: Chairman

The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released its final report titled, “After Action Review of the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Lessons Learned and a Path Forward" on Monday after its two-year investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The final report will serve as a road map for Congress, the Executive Branch, and the private sector to prepare for and respond to future pandemics," read the subcommittee's news release.

"Since February 2023, the Select Subcommittee has sent more than 100 investigative letters, conducted more than 30 transcribed interviews and depositions, held 25 hearings and meetings, and reviewed more than one million pages of documents," it also read.

Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the chairman, said the investigation and the final report, which is more than 500 pages, will "help the United States, and the world, predict the next pandemic, prepare for the next pandemic, protect ourselves from the next pandemic, and hopefully prevent the next pandemic."

Several failures of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were among the findings in the report.

"NIH’s procedures for funding and overseeing potentially dangerous research are deficient, unreliable, and pose a serious threat to both public health and national security," read a summary of the findings released on Monday. "Further, NIH fostered an environment that promoted evading federal record keeping laws — as seen through the actions of Dr. David Morens and 'FOIA Lady' Marge Moore."