On August 5, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. announced the cancellation of 22 projects, including those that were developing vaccines with mRNA technology, which totaled $500 million.
Without sound scientific evidence, RFK Jr. criticized mRNA vaccines. He is not qualified to implement policies relating to vaccines, as he is neither a career scientist, health official, or a doctor.
mRNA technology is critical in resisting pandemics.
The shelving of the mRNA projects is short-sighted as concerns about a bird flu pandemic continue to loom, said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“It’s certainly saved millions of lives,” Offit said of the existing mRNA vaccines.
NPR
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for COVID-19 utilized mRNA technology, helping to save millions of lives during the recent pandemic.
mRNA also has the potential to treat cancer as a form of immunotherapy.
Without mRNA technology, the government may not be able to produce vaccines on an industrial level to stymie potential pandemics. Trump, who has boasted about Operation Warp Speed, which saw the early implementation of COVID-19 vaccines, has mRNA to thank for such a development.
RFK Jr. suggested that Health and Human Services will focus on a “universal vaccine” that mimics “natural immunity.” He did not explain how this would be developed or the specific ways in which it is safer than mRNA vaccines.
