I was disgusted to learn that the National Primate Research Centers have banded together to push a plan to infect monkeys with COVID-19 to provide “comparison” results for vaccine studies with human clinical trials. 

The plan, which would cost approximately $10 million dollars and kill hundreds of monkeys, is totally unnecessary and ill-conceived. At least ten human clinical trials are already underway assessing data from tens of thousands of human subjects, and hundreds of animal tests on COVID have already been conducted. 

This plan has already been rebuffed by officials at Operation Warp Speed. Moncef Slaoui, Chief scientific adviser at Warp Speed, who has 30 years of experience in vaccine development, described the phase III clinical trials with thousands of human participants as “100 times more significant” than monkey vaccine studies. 

I ask you to reject this self-serving plan that would funnel an estimated $10 million of tax-payer dollars into the primate centers to infect monkeys in cruel and useless pre-clinical tests.