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Trump administration to halt flu, virus vaccine development projects worth $500 million
The Department of Health and Human Services is going to cancel contracts and pull funding for these projects, Robert F Kennedy Jr announced.
The US government is set to cancel projects worth $500 million, aimed at developing vaccines that fight respiratory viruses such as Covid-19 and the flu.
The Department of Health and Human Services is going to cancel contracts and pull funding for these projects, Robert F Kennedy Jr announced on Tuesday. The vaccines that were under development were using mRNA technology.
The latest move by RFK Jr makes his vaccine scepticism even clearer. In the recent past the Republican has made many changes in the vaccine policy in the US, from pulling back recommendations on the Covid-19 vaccines to removing everyone from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) scientific vaccine advisory committee.
“To replace the troubled mRNA programs, we’re prioritising the development of safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms that don’t collapse when viruses mutate," Kennedy said, criticising mRNA vaccines.
However, the health department has clarified that other uses of mRNA technology within the department are not affected.
“Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them," Kennedy said in the statement.
What next without mRNA vaccines?
While RFK Jr is a staunch critic of the mRNA vaccines, experts believe they are safe and were responsible for slowing down the spread of coronavirus during the 2020 pandemic.
Infectious disease experts say that without mRNA vaccines, future pandemics, if any, would be tougher to stop. “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 was quoted as saying by news agency AP.
Not just infectious diseases, mRNA vaccines were also under research for potentially being put to use for cancer immunotherapies. Billionaire tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison earlier this year heaped praise on the vaccines for being able to treat cancer.
How mRNA vaccines work
Unlike how conventional vaccines are, the mRNA use a small piece of genetic code that tells the body how to make a protein from the virus. The body makes just enough of that protein to trigger an immune response, protecting you from illness.
mRNA is already used in approved COVID-19 and RSV vaccines, but not yet in flu shots.
Moderna, which had been working on a combined mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 and flu, believed the technology could speed up flu shot production.
(With AP inputs)
