Public health experts dismayed by RFK Jr.'s defunding of mRNA vaccine research

The Trump administration is cancelling almost $500 million in contracts to develop mRNA vaccines to protect the nation against future viral threats. The move thrilled critics of the technology but horrified many public health and biosecurity experts.

The federal Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, which oversees the nation's defenses against biological attacks, is terminating 22 contracts with university researchers and private companies to develop new uses for the mRNA technology, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday.

The mRNA technology was used by the first Trump administration to create the most commonly used COVID-19 vaccines, which are widely considered a medical triumph that safely and effectively saved millions of lives. But vaccine mandates during the pandemic sowed fierce antipathy towards the technology, leading to widespread public opposition.

"Let me be absolutely clear: HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants one," Kennedy said in a video explaining the decision. "That's why we're moving beyond the limitations of mRNA vaccines for respiratory viruses and investing in better solutions."

The announcement dismayed many who study infectious disease.

"This may be the most dangerous public health judgment that I've seen in my 50 years in this business," says Michael Osterholm, who runs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "It is baseless and we will pay a tremendous price in terms of illnesses and deaths. I'm extremely worried about it."

But the decision was welcomed by vaccine critics like the group Children's Health Defense, which Kennedy himself founded.

"While we believe the mRNA vaccines should be taken off the market, the announcement is a positive move towards protecting public health," said Mary Holland, the group's president and CEO, in a statement.

Jennifer Nuzzo strongly disagrees. She runs the Brown University School of Public Health Pandemic Center, and says the move could erode preparedness for future pandemics.

"This is a profoundly disappointing development," she says. "When there's the next pandemic, we're going to be caught flat-footed. It absolutely leaves the country vulnerable."

Nuzzo and others aren't just worried about the next pandemic. Many experts say mRNA vaccines would provide a crucial deterrent and powerful defense against bioterrorists.

"I think that it endangers the national security of the United States," says Chris Meekins, a top biodefense official in the first Trump administration. "It could put the US at a strategic national security disadvantage and would be a significant threat to the national security of the United States."

In announcing his decision, Kennedy claimed the COVID-19 vaccines were unsafe, ineffective, helped drive the evolution of the virus and could not keep up with new mutations.

"After reviewing the science and consulting top experts at NIH and FDA, HHS has determined that mRNA technology poses more risk than benefits against these respiratory viruses," Kennedy said.

Many outside experts say Kennedy's claims are wrong.

"His science is backwards, as it often is," says Dr. Peter Hotez, the dean of the Baylor College of Medicine who runs the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. "This is a proven technology for emerging respiratory viruses or respiratory virus pandemics. It is extremely safe and has been incredibly effective."

mRNA vaccines work by stimulating the immune system with a key protein from a virus. Kennedy says the federal government is instead investing in an alternative technology that uses whole killed viruses and can produce "natural immunity."

While that technology has produced effective vaccines, it's a much older approach that can have safety issues and is not nearly as nimble in responding to new threats, experts say.

"It is irresponsible to strip funding from future technologies with great potential and shift it towards outdated old fashioned technologies," says Rick Bright, who ran BARDA during the first Trump administration. "We're taking our country from 2025 back to 1940 and we all know that's a recipe for disaster and failure."

The mRNA technology is the only vaccine technology that can be developed quickly enough to respond swiftly to a new pathogenic threat, experts say.

"In an outbreak, when you are facing a rapidly spreading virus – whether it's from nature or a nation-state adversary – speed is the name of the game," Bright says.

The administration previously cancelled a $766 million contract with the vaccine company Moderna to develop an mRNA vaccine to protect people against flu strains with pandemic potential.

Many fear moves like this will continue to undermine public trust in vaccines generally and mRNA technology specifically, which is also showing promise for treating diseases, most notably cancer.

"The deleterious impact is not only in the contracts that they're canceling but they're trying to make the case to the public that mRNA technology doesn't work very well and it's unsafe," Hotez says. "And that's absolutely untrue."
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