RFK Jr cancels $500M in vaccine research in bid prioritize safer

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday it was terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments price almost $500 million and shifting funds to “safer, broader vaccine platforms.”

Kennedy, a identified vaccine skeptic who has for a long time promoted an exhaustive array of debunked medical conspiracy theories, was sworn in by President Donald Trump this yr as one of his most controversial Cabinet picks. The transfer follows Kennedy’s dismissal of 17 vaccine coverage advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and elimination of the Covid-19 shot from the CDC’s record of really useful immunizations for healthy kids and pregnant ladies.

The HHS “is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu,” Kennedy said in a assertion.

When contacted by The Daily Express, the health secretary’s workplace referred to the HHS assertion but didn’t present extra feedback.

During his affirmation hearings in February, Kennedy made a number of guarantees to Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy to “work within the current vaccine approval and safety monitoring systems, and not establish parallel systems” and to “maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes.”

However, in his first months as secretary, Kennedy broke these guarantees, dismantling long-established health businesses and selling medical steering that scientists say exposes Americans to imminent health dangers, according to a assertion from Cassidy.

The HHS announced Tuesday that among the organizations whose work is being slashed are Moderna, AstraZeneca, Emory University and Tiba Biotech, as effectively as proposals from Pfizer and Sanofi Pasteur.

Kennedy had also beforehand restricted approval of a Novavax vaccine and cut Moderna’s $766 million contract to develop avian influenza vaccines.

According to Forbes, in addition to his well-documented vaccine skepticism, Kennedy has falsely claimed “Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people” and “the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese;” that the FDA intentionally withholds advancements in public health research; that wireless technology can cause cancer; that HIV is not a cause of AIDS; that fluoride can cause diseases; and that mass shootings are linked to prescription drugs.

The health secretary has also stated that he has vaccinated his own children.

In its statement on Tuesday, the HHS said there will not be any future projects based on mRNA vaccines. Some contracts nearing their final stages will “run their course to preserve prior taxpayer investment.”