HHS has announced that it will begin a “coordinated wind-down of its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), including the cancellation and de-scoping of various contracts and solicitations.”
HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said that the agency “reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted.”
Reportage from CNN wrote that BARDA is terminating “22 mRNA vaccine development investments…despite evidence they protect against severe disease and death from COVID-19 and show promise against influenza.” The HHS also says that the money could be rerouted to other technologies, like “whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms.”
mRNA vaccines were “particularly useful during the COVID-19 pandemic because they can be developed and manufactured quickly. Multiple peer-reviewed studies have shown that mRNA vaccines developed under Operation Warp Speed during the first Trump administration were highly effective at preventing severe disease and were repeatedly demonstrated to be extremely safe.”
Dr. Peter Hotez, who heads the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital, was quoted by CNN saying that this announcement will “weaken our nation’s biosecurity.” He stated that mRNA vaccine technology has “distinct advantages” for pandemic situations and for cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics.
Other vaccine scientists interviewed by CNN said that the claims by Kennedy about mRNA vaccines being “unnecessarily dangerous” are “just wrong.”
