CNN
reported that Dr. Jay Bhattacharya promoted the lab leak theory as the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic in a meeting with NIH staff. "“If it’s true that we sponsored research that caused a pandemic – and if you look at polls of the American people, that’s what most people believe, and I looked at the scientific evidence; I believe it – what we have to do is make sure that we do not engage in research that’s any risk of posing any risk to human populations,” he said.
At SBM in 2024 Dr. David Gorski wrote an
essay comparing the lab leak theory unfavorably with the zoonotic origin theory: "Conspiracy theories aside, however, I’ve been consistent in emphasizing that a lab leak origin for COVID-19 was possible. My position has simply been, since early on, that there has been no convincing scientific evidence for lab leak."