"I haven't gotten the latest COVID shots, and I'm not going to… there's mixed evidence about if it really does anything," says Raja Cholan, Chief of the Health Data Standards Branch at the U.S. National Library of Medicine for The National Institutes of Health.

Cholan, who defines the strategy for health data standards at the NIH, raised concerns about vaccine risks, particularly for younger individuals: "For people that are 30 or under, it really increases your risk for heart conditions. The data does show that... I’m close enough to 30 to where I don’t want to have a heart attack." He added, "I probably shouldn’t be saying this out loud," acknowledging the sensitivity of his statements around vaccine safety.

He also expressed doubts about the vaccines’ effectiveness, adding, "I don’t even know if these vaccines stop you from getting COVID. They don’t."

Cholan linked the NIAID to the funding of vaccine research, alleging, "There is some evidence out that the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases… they might have funded Wuhan, a lab in Wuhan, China, to make COVID," referencing Anthony Fauci and his role in global health initiatives. "That’s where Fauci was the director. Like they might have funded some labs to do vaccine studies and disease, like to prepare for an outbreak."

Criticizing the expedited vaccine approval process, Cholan explained, "The measles vaccine requires several rounds of approval, but the COVID-19 vaccines were accelerated through the approvals for all of us to get our boosters." He also highlighted the financial motivations behind the vaccines, saying, "Pfizer and Moderna are just getting a bunch of money from it."

Cholan also commented on the difficulties of implementing reform, even under an administration led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., adding, "Anything that RFK would want to do probably would just, like, wouldn’t happen,” pointing to the entrenched relationships between federal agencies, pharmaceutical companies.

O'Keefe Media Group contacted Cholan for comment but did not receive a response. Prior to the release of the NIH Tapes, Cholan deleted his LinkedIn account.