Scientist from theUnted States attempted to collaborate with the Wuhan Institute of Virology to create new coronaviruses similiar to the COVID-19 virus in 2018. This was revealed after documents were released regarding a U.S.-China research grant proposal called DEFUSE. Among the many uncertainties surrounding the origins of COVID-19, a point of focus has been the furin cleavage site. This site refers to a sequence of 12 nucleotides in the COVID-19 virus that is foreign to the coronavirus class. The presence of this foreign furin cleavage site is controversial because it could mean the virus was engineered in the lab. American virologist Ralph Baric also aimed to engineer new spike proteins. It is unknown whether the project DEFUSE continued after DARPA rejected it. Another inquiry into whether or not there was a relationship beteen EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology would shed clarity on this topic. The United States accounted for over 110 million infections and more than 1.19 million deaths. Roughly a billion vaccines have been distributed in the country.