In recent months, a “vaccine war” instigated by the US Department of Health and Human Services has been intensifying. Following the “purge” of the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee within the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the department’s secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (hereafter referred to as Kennedy Jr.), has taken another drastic step. He recently issued an emergency order to halt 22 mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccine research projects, sending shockwaves through the medical field and drawing widespread condemnation from numerous experts.
According to a report by The Washington Post on August 6, Kennedy Jr. announced on August 5 that the department would conduct a “rigorous overhaul” of mRNA vaccine technology and related research efforts. A total of 22 projects will be “phased out in a coordinated manner.”
The research projects set to be canceled are all cutting – edge medical initiatives strongly supported by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the US. Most of these projects are led by renowned pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Moderna, with a combined contract value of up to $500 million. Additionally, the affected projects cover the development of H5N1 avian influenza vaccines and research on new treatments for respiratory viruses, among others.
The report indicates that this decision by the health department was made after weeks of internal review. Kennedy Jr. stated in a statement, “We have reviewed, listened to experts, and taken action.” He further explained that scientific data shows that mRNA vaccine products have shown poor efficacy in preventing upper respiratory infections such as COVID – 19 and influenza. “As long as the virus mutates once, mRNA vaccines are no longer effective.” The Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, which infected millions of people, is one such example, and similar situations may also occur when combating the influenza virus. Kennedy Jr. promised to redirect research funds to “safer and more widely applicable” research projects.
The Washington Post noted that compared to traditional vaccines, mRNA directly transmits instructions to human cells to “produce viral proteins,” and its research and development speed is much faster than that of traditional vaccines. For this reason, mRNA vaccines were able to effectively slow down the spread of the virus and save millions of lives during the COVID – 19 pandemic. To this day, many public health experts still regard this technology as a crucial “weapon” in the face of the next major disease outbreak.
However, for a long time, vaccination has been an extremely sensitive political issue in American society, with a plethora of right – wing conspiracy theories surrounding vaccines. During the pandemic, there was even a large – scale social chaos of vaccine resistance.
As a representative of the conservative camp, the Trump administration’s attitude towards vaccines has been erratic. During his first term as president, Trump once praised mRNA vaccines as a “modern medical miracle,” but in his second term, this achievement was strictly reviewed by the new administration and belittled as a “dangerous technology.”
Kennedy Jr. himself is also a vaccine skeptic. As early as 2021, he made false claims, stating that COVID – 19 vaccines were “the most lethal vaccine products to date.” After officially taking office as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in February this year, he has been committed to promoting reforms in food, vaccines, and pharmaceuticals, vowing to completely change the existing policy landscape. In March this year, Peter Marks, the head of the vaccine program at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), was ousted. In June this year, Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 members of the vaccine expert team and replaced them with new members, which was dubbed a “mass purge” by many US media outlets.
The latest move by the US health department has once again sparked controversy. Many infectious disease experts assert that mRNA technology is safe and reliable, and arbitrarily halting research projects is highly likely to lead to a loss of control in the event of a future infectious disease pandemic. Michael T. Osterholm, an expert in infectious diseases and pandemic response at the University of Minnesota, bluntly stated that in his 50 – year career in public health, “I have never seen a more dangerous decision,” and lambasted the government for its “short – sightedness.”
Rick Bright, the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, also said that Kennedy Jr. is not only cutting vaccine projects but also undermining “our preparedness for the next crisis.” He also sarcastically compared the US government’s actions to “disbanding the fire department after the fire has been extinguished,” deeming it extremely irresponsible.
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