Synopsis
The US Department of Health and Human Services has planned to cancel $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccines, citing potential risks and limited effectiveness against respiratory viruses. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated the department will shift focus towards safer, broader vaccine platforms. This comes at a time as Covid cases are seeing a surge in the US.
AP Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, announced he was pulling the funding over claims that “mRNA technology poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses”
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has planned to cancel $500m (£376m) in funding for mRNA vaccines being developed to counter viruses that cause diseases such as the flu and Covid-19. The health department has said it plans to terminate 22 federal contracts for mRNA-based vaccines, safety of a technology credited with helping end the Covid pandemic and saving millions of lives.
Most of the projects that were canceled were for vaccines that fight COVID-19 or the flu, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday. They include proposals from Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur and other drugmakers that were rejected or canceled, along with a now-shuttered award to Moderna to develop a bird flu vaccine, according to an HHS statement.
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RFK Jr cancels $500m in funding for mRNA vaccines Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, announced he was pulling the funding over claims that “mRNA technology poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses”. Doctors and health experts have criticised Kennedy’s longstanding questioning of the safety and efficacy of vaccines and his views on health policies.
In a statement, Kennedy said his team had “reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted”. “[T]he data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu,” he said.
— SecKennedy (@SecKennedy) He said the department was shifting the funding toward “safer, b
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