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Investing.com-- U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday announced plans to cut about $500 million in funding for vaccine development projects using mRNA technology.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, said in a video posted to social media that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) had canceled 22 contracts totalling just under $500 million that were linked to mRNA technology.
“After reviewing the science and consulting top experts at NIH and FDA, the HHS has determined that mRNA technology poses more risk than benefits” for respiratory viruses such as COVID-19 and the flu, Kennedy said.
The health secretary said instead of mRNA vaccines, the Department of Health and Human Services will invest in “safer, broader vaccine strategies.”
Kennedy said that mRNA vaccines did not perform well against respiratory viruses, and turned ineffective if the virus they were targeting mutated. mRNA technology came into the mainstream during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic, and works by introducing a messenger molecule, rather than a piece of virus or bacteria, to generate an immune response in the body.
Kennedy has been a long-time critic of vaccines, having earlier served as a vaccine litigation lawyer. The health secretary has a history of questioning established medical practices and spreading misinformation about vaccines, and has promoted a widely debunked theory touting a link between vaccines and autism.
In June, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replacing them with seven handpicked members, many of whom are known vaccine skeptics.