WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Health and Human Services will terminate contracts and withdraw funding for certain vaccines being developed to combat respiratory viruses, including COVID-19 and the flu.
On Tuesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a statement declaring that 22 vaccine projects, amounting to $500 million and utilizing mRNA technology, will be discontinued.
Kennedy’s decision to end these initiatives is the latest move reflecting his longstanding skepticism about vaccines, visibly impacting the health department’s current policies. He has scaled back recommendations for COVID-19 vaccinations, dismissed the advisory panel responsible for vaccine guidance, and held back strong support for measles vaccinations, despite an escalating outbreak.
The health secretary criticized mRNA vaccines through a video on his social media platforms, rationalizing the decision to cancel projects conducted by prominent pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Moderna, which provide defenses against viruses like flu, COVID-19, and H5N1.
“Instead of the problematic mRNA programs, we’re focusing on developing safer, more comprehensive vaccine strategies, including whole-virus vaccines and innovative platforms that remain effective when viruses mutate,” Kennedy stated in the video.
Experts in infectious diseases assert that vaccines utilizing mRNA technology are safe, and they attribute its development during the first Trump administration with mitigating the impacts of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. They caution that future pandemics will be more challenging to control without the assistance made possible by mRNA technology.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,” said Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations.
He noted mRNA technology offers potential advantages of rapid production, crucial in the event of a new pandemic that requires a new vaccine.
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.
Scientists are using mRNA for more than infectious disease vaccines, with researchers around the world exploring its use for cancer immunotherapies. At the White House earlier this year, billionaire tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison praised mRNA for its potential to treat cancer.
Traditionally, vaccines have required growing pieces of viruses, often in chicken eggs or giant vats of cells, then purifying that material. The mRNA approach starts with a snippet of genetic code that carries instructions for making proteins. Scientists pick the protein to target, inject that blueprint and the body makes just enough to trigger immune protection — producing its own vaccine dose.
In a statement Tuesday, HHS said “other uses of mRNA technology within the department are not impacted by this announcement.”
The mRNA technology is used in approved COVID-19 and RSV shots, but has not yet been approved for a flu shot. Moderna, which was studying a combination COVID-19 and flu mRNA shot, had said it believed mRNA could speed up production of flu shots compared with traditional vaccines.
The abandoned mRNA projects signal a “shift in vaccine development priorities,” the health department said in its statement, adding that it will start “investing in better solutions.”
“Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” Kennedy said in the statement.
Speaking hours later Tuesday at a news conference in Anchorage, Alaska, alongside the state’s two Republican U.S. senators, Kennedy said work is underway on an alternative.
He said a “universal vaccine” that mimics “natural immunity” is the administration’s focus.
“It could be effective — we believe it’s going to be effective — against not only coronaviruses, but also flu,” he said.
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Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard in Washington, Mike Stobbe in New York and Becky Bohrer in Juneau contributed.
