RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development
[August 06, 2025]
By AMANDA SEITZ
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Health and Human Services will
cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being
developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a statement Tuesday that 22 projects,
totaling $500 million, to develop vaccines using mRNA technology will be
halted.
Kennedy's decision to terminate the projects is the latest in a string
of decisions that have put the longtime vaccine critic's doubts about
shots into full effect at the nation's health department. Kennedy has
pulled back recommendations around the COVID-19 shots, fired the panel
that makes vaccine recommendations, and refused to offer a vigorous
endorsement of vaccinations as a measles outbreak worsened.
The health secretary criticized mRNA vaccines in a video on his social
media accounts, explaining the decision to cancel projects being led by
the nation's leading pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and
Moderna, that offer protection against viruses like the flu, COVID-19
and H5N1.
“To replace the troubled mRNA programs, we’re prioritizing the
development of safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus
vaccines and novel platforms that don’t collapse when viruses mutate,"
Kennedy said in the video.
Infectious disease experts say the mRNA technology used in vaccines is
safe, and they credit its development during the first Trump
administration with slowing the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Future
pandemics, they warned, will be harder to stop without the help of mRNA.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in
my 50 years in the business,” said Mike Osterholm, a University of
Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations.
He noted mRNA technology offers potential advantages of rapid
production, crucial in the event of a new pandemic that requires a new
vaccine.
The shelving of the mRNA projects is short-sighted as concerns about a
bird flu pandemic continue to loom, said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine
expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“It's certainly saved millions of lives,” Offit said of the existing
mRNA vaccines.
Scientists are using mRNA for more than infectious disease vaccines,
with researchers around the world exploring its use for cancer
immunotherapies. At the White House earlier this year, billionaire tech
entrepreneur Larry Ellison praised mRNA for its potential to treat
cancer.
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U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a news
conference, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP
Photo/Mark Thiessen)
 Traditionally, vaccines have
required growing pieces of viruses, often in chicken eggs or giant
vats of cells, then purifying that material. The mRNA approach
starts with a snippet of genetic code that carries instructions for
making proteins. Scientists pick the protein to target, inject that
blueprint and the body makes just enough to trigger immune
protection — producing its own vaccine dose.
In a statement Tuesday, HHS said “other uses of mRNA technology
within the department are not impacted by this announcement."
The mRNA technology is used in approved COVID-19 and RSV shots, but
has not yet been approved for a flu shot. Moderna, which was
studying a combination COVID-19 and flu mRNA shot, had said it
believed mRNA could speed up production of flu shots compared with
traditional vaccines.
The abandoned mRNA projects signal a “shift in vaccine development
priorities,” the health department said in its statement, adding
that it will start “investing in better solutions.”
“Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines
for every American who wants them," Kennedy said in the statement.
Speaking hours later Tuesday at a news conference in Anchorage,
Alaska, alongside the state’s two Republican U.S. senators, Kennedy
said work is underway on an alternative.
He said a “universal vaccine” that mimics “natural immunity" is the
administration's focus.
“It could be effective — we believe it’s going to be effective --
against not only coronaviruses, but also flu,” he said.
—
Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard in Washington, Mike Stobbe
in New York and Becky Bohrer in Juneau contributed.
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