This final decision by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services is a huge victory. He is ending a number of mRNA vaccine development programs, worth close to $500 million. This choice comes as a big miss on an otherwise bold and major shift in health policy for his administration. It centers on large, transformative changes meant to disrupt vaccine, food, and medicine policies.
Kennedy’s announcement comes at a time when COVID-19 cases are on the rise across the US and as the country prepares for fall booster shots. He stated that data indicated the current mRNA vaccines “fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.” He failed to share the scientific evidence that would back up this assertion. His decades-old skepticism about vaccines has stoked an ongoing firestorm between him and the public health establishment.
Despite only having taken office since March, Kennedy has already led a significant rework of U.S. health policy. Under his watch, his administration has shut down current vaccine research projects. They killed or pulled back hundreds of pre-award solicitations, including ones Ben used to signal interest in large pharma manufacturers like Pfizer and Sanofi Pasteur. In a widely criticized move, he reconfigured the panel of independent vaccine experts that advised the government. Instead, he brought in his own team. The new panel has already begun an out-in-left-field ban on a long-used vaccine preservative. This chemical has been a major focus of the anti-vaccine movement for decades.
Peter Hotez, a leading vaccine and infectious disease expert, calls for Kennedy’s actions. He is challenging the decisions HHS made under Kennedy’s leadership that he contends would harm our national biosecurity. Hotez stated, “These actions promote their pseudoscience agenda and weaken our nation’s biosecurity.” Here, he extended the conversation on Kennedy’s interpretation and what it could mean. He contended that it shouts out that the federal government is abandoning support for innovation in biomedicine.
“The mRNA technology, like all biotechnologies, has strengths and weaknesses, but for a pandemic situation with a new and previously unknown pathogen, or for cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics it has distinct advantages. HHS under Mr Kennedy is telling us that we should no longer look to the federal government for innovation in biomedicine. The states are on their own.” – Peter Hotez
Kennedy defended his decision by claiming that his administration saw the science and spoke with experts before taking action. He emphasized a shift in funding towards “safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”
The logic for stopping mRNA vaccine development has been challenged at almost every turn by scientific experts. Andrew Pekosz, a virologist, sounded an alarm on the state of vaccination in the country. He remarked, “If you’re vaccinated against Covid-19, you’re less likely to get infected.” Pekosz noted a decline in vaccination efforts over recent years, stating, “We haven’t gotten a lot of people vaccinated for the past few years, and with the current recommendations changing, it’s even less likely.”