A few days ago, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the termination of nearly $500 million in federal funding for mRNA vaccine development projects.
This move canceled 22 contracts and awards with companies and universities, affecting ongoing and planned research into mRNA vaccines for diseases that include COVID and influenza. It also ended mRNA project expansions into new fields like cancer and HIV.
The 22 now-terminated projects were funded through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA. Most of the projects that were canceled were for vaccines that fight COVID-19 or the flu, Kennedy said.They include proposals from Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur and other drugmakers that were rejected or canceled, along with a now-shuttered award to Moderna to develop a bird flu vaccine, according to an HHS statement. The projects were reviewed and canceled over the last few weeks, said Kennedy.A Moderna spokesperson told CBS News that the company’s H5N1 (bird flu) contract was canceled in May, and it isn’t aware of any new BARDA cancellations.Kennedy framed the move as part of a step away from research into mRNA vaccines. Those types of vaccines use messenger RNA, or mRNA, to prompt the body to make proteins that induce antibody production to protect against an infection.
If these mRNA products are so promising, then the pharmaceutical firms can indeed find private investors. Kennedy vowed to stop the government-pharmaceutical complex, and he has always ensured that vaccines would only be approved if they were safe and effective.
Recall that the COVID-19 vaccines were initially approved under emergency use authorizations. HHS is now insisting these vaccines pass more traditional tests before approval and funding.
“Let me be absolutely clear: HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them. That’s why we’re moving beyond the limitations of mRNA and investing in better solutions,” said Secretary Kennedy.The move signals a broader shift in federal vaccine development priorities. Going forward, BARDA will focus on platforms with stronger safety records and transparent clinical and manufacturing data practices. Technologies that were funded during the emergency phase but failed to meet current scientific standards will be phased out in favor of evidence-based, ethically grounded solutions – like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms.
Sounds reasonable, right?
Not if you’re a MAGA-MAHA-hating “journalist” likely connected to Big Pharma dollars via advertising. The wailing and complaining in the media and their preferred “experts” is off-the-charts.
Take, for example, ABC News. Its reporters interviewed Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist and professor at Baylor College of Medicine. Hotez was one of the biggest proponents of COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccines.
“The message to the companies will clearly be that they can no longer rely on the U.S. government for supporting any mRNA vaccine work, which is unfortunate, or even tragic, because the mRNA platform is one of the few that we have for pandemic threats in terms of something that we can make a vaccine for very quickly,” he said. “So what, what Mr. Kennedy’s and HHS’ actions are doing is weakening our pandemic preparedness and weakening our biosecurity.”
The Washington Post decided to quote a Biden “winter of death” era official.
“This represents a significant setback for our preparedness efforts in responding to infectious-disease outbreaks,” said Dawn O’Connell, the former assistant secretary of preparedness and response at HHS during the Biden administration. If viruses change, mRNA can be quickly rebooted and manufactured.
The New York Times decided to talk to… an mRNA researcher and a San Francisco lawyer.
“This is a bad day for science,” said Scott Hensley, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania who has been working to develop an mRNA vaccine against influenza….“It’s going to deter innovations,” said Dorit Reiss, a professor at the University of California College of the Law at San Francisco, whose research focuses on vaccine law and policy. “Why invest in new technologies if the government can not only refuse to fund them, but if it’s going to cancel already promised contracts?”
I must admit, I regret getting the Pfizer vaccine. I have made the decision never to get another vaccine again, except for those already in use before 2000. I have completely lost trust in media-designated “experts”, especially in the fields with which I am familiar. I suspect many others feel the same.
When the real data is crunched, and we have a better understanding of all the consequences of the vaccine mandates, I suspect that evidence will show Secretary Kennedy made the right call. As a reminder, some of the evidence is beginning to trickle out.
The mRNA vaccines need to be treated like all the other ones. That is to say, it has been shown via a battery of tests to be both safe and effective. Until then, I remain skeptical of both the vaccine and the “experts”.
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