'Dangerous decision': Trump administration to halt $500 million vaccine development projects - Here's how it can affect Americans
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Dangerous decision': Trump administration to halt $500 million vaccine development projects - Here's how it can affect Americans")
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Photograph: (Reuters)
The Department of Health and Human Services will soon be cancelling contracts and pulling funding, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced. The vaccines that were under development were using mRNA technology.
The US administration is set to halt projects aimed at developing vaccines that fight respiratory viruses, including COVID-19 and the flu. These projects are worth $500 million, and the Trump administration is looking to pull funding for these projects.
The Department of Health and Human Services will soon be cancelling contracts and pulling funding, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced. The vaccines that were under development were using mRNA technology.
WATCH | Ex‑DOGE staffer mugged in Washington DC; Trump and Musk demand federal control
The US HHS stated that it would terminate 22 federal contracts for mRNA-based vaccines as it questioned the safety of a technology credited with helping end the COVID-19 pandemic and saving millions of lives.
“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.
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
However, certain late-stage projects were excluded from the move “to preserve prior taxpayer investment”.
How will it affect?
RFK Jr has been a major critic of the mRNA vaccines. While, experts believe that they are safe and helped in minimising the spread of coronavirus in the year 2020. According to infectious disease experts, without mRNA vaccines, future pandemics would be more difficult 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, according to Associated Press.
Not just infectious diseases, the mRNA vaccines were also being used for researching cancer immunotherapies. Earlier this year, billionaire tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison praised the vaccines for being able to treat cancer.
