RFK Jr.'s vaccine pullback stokes fears of lost medical breakthroughs [View all]

Source: msn/Axios

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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to cut federal funding for mRNA vaccine research is the latest in a series of moves that have the potential to crush future medical breakthroughs and accelerate a brain drain.

Why it matters: America has historically led the world in scientific innovation — driving economic growth, strengthening national security, and attracting global talent. But scientists, including some who served in Trump's first administration, warn that lead is slipping away.

The mRNA divestment "risks stalling progress in some of the most promising areas of modern medicine," Jerome Adams, surgeon general during the first Trump administration and now a professor at Purdue University, told Axios.

"Walking away from this technology now would be like pulling funding from antibiotics after penicillin or from computers after the microchip. It's short-sighted and puts us at a disadvantage globally."

State of play: Kennedy said last week that HHS's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority would pull nearly $500 million worth of contracts with universities, drug companies and other labs working on new mRNA vaccines.

No new mRNA-based projects will be launched as the administration shifts to "safer, broader vaccine platforms," he added.

Scientists refute the implication that mRNA vaccines are unsafe. The technology that brought mRNA COVID vaccines in Trump's first term has been in development for decades. Large scientific trials and real-world data have shown that the vaccines are safe and effective — and capable of training the body's immune system to create antibodies to fight a host of afflictions.

HHS, when asked for the research on which Kennedy based this decision, sent Axios a link to a citation collection put together by anti-COVID vaccine advocates, including Steven Hatfill, who promoted the use of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat the virus before vaccines were available despite reports of safety issues.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/rfk-jrs-vaccine-pullback-stokes-fears-of-lost-medical-breakthroughs/ar-AA1KfC9L