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RFK Jr. Terminates $500 Million in BARDA mRNA Vaccine Projects as Experts Warn of Consequences

HHS says data justify shifting from mRNA toward broader vaccine platforms, with replacement funding yet unspecified, prompting experts to decry readiness gaps

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams is pictured testifying during a hearing in Washington, D.C., about the coronavirus crisis in 2021.
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Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Friday, April 3, 2020, in Washington
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Overview

  • Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has begun winding down 22 BARDA-funded mRNA vaccine development projects worth nearly $500 million.
  • Kennedy’s office argues that performance data show mRNA vaccines underperform against upper respiratory infections and pledges to reallocate the funds to broader vaccine technologies.
  • Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams and leading scientists assert that mRNA technology was critical to rapid COVID-19 vaccine development and warn that cutting these programs will cost lives.
  • Public-health experts caution that halting influenza, COVID-19 and H5N1 mRNA research threatens pandemic preparedness, disrupts the vaccine workforce and risks ceding leadership to other nations.
  • Lawmakers and industry leaders are pressing HHS for detailed timelines and replacement-investment plans amid growing concern over U.S. biomedical leadership and institutional trust.