Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s latest attack on public health is drawing fierce backlash from medical and scientific experts after he canceled or altered nearly two dozen mRNA-related contracts—the very technology that enabled the rapid development of COVID shots credited with saving millions of lives since late 2020.
Among those projects affected are ones “creating an H5N1 bird flu vaccine and developing respiratory virus therapeutics,” The Washington Post reported. About $500 million in contracts are affected. The Post referred to Secretary Kennedy as “the founder of a prominent anti-vaccine group who once falsely called coronavirus shots the ‘deadliest vaccine ever made.’”
“The cancellations dismayed scientists who believe mRNA shots offer the best protection for Americans in a pandemic,” reported The New York Times.
READ MORE: Trump Melts Down Over Elizabeth Warren’s Accusations
“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,” the Associated Press reported. “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.”
“We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted,” Secretary Kennedy said in a statement. “We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”
Experts strongly disagree, and the Washington Post reported that large-scale studies have shown that mRNA vaccines are “safe and effective.”
“Completely horrifying,” commented Timothy Caulfield, a Professor of Law at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health and a Research Director at the Health Law Institute. He appeared to call the HHS Secretary an “Anti-science monster.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,” Mike Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert on infectious diseases and pandemic preparations told the AP.
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, Professor of Clinical Population and Public Health Sciences at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine is a former CDC Medical Officer.
READ MORE: Transportation Secretary Warns US Is Behind in ‘Race to the Moon’
Responding to video of RFK Jr.’s remarks, Dr. Klausner wrote that the HHS Secretary “is increasingly positioning himself as the most corrupt and ill-informed Secretary of Health in US history. His legacy will be one of foolish decisions that destroyed medicine and public health.”
Dr. Simon Maechling, who has a PhD in organic chemistry, remarked that the mRNA contracts were cut not because the vaccines “failed” or were “unsafe,” but “because of ideology.”
“Twenty-two projects – gone overnight. These weren’t fringe efforts. They included next-gen vaccines for COVID-19, influenza, RSV, and even H5N1 bird flu,” he wrote. “Pulling support for them isn’t a safety move – it’s an anti-vaccine statement dressed in bureaucratic language.”
“RFK Jr. isn’t making America safer,” Maechling added. “He’s dismantling the infrastructure we’ll need for the next crisis – in the name of belief over biology. It’s not principled. It’s reckless.”
Dr. Catharine Young, a senior fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, noted, “mRNA technology didn’t appear overnight. it is the result of DECADES of research – now driving some of the most promising advances in cancer, HIV, and rare disease. It is precise, fast, and adaptable – and yes – revolutionary. And it is now very much being dismantled.”
Dr. Jake Scott, an infectious diseases specialist and clinical associate professor at Stanford blasted RFK Jr.’s claimed reason for cutting the contracts as “naive,” and wrote that it “reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of vaccinology. It conflates the unrealistic goal of blocking all infections with the real, achievable goal: reducing serious illness and death.”
Infectious Diseases doctor and clinician scientist Dr. Neil Stone also slammed Kennedy:
“RFK Jr’s attack on mRNA vaccines is not based on science. As a life long anti vaxxer he disproportionately listens to those who expouse anti vaccine views And he believes them. It’s outrageous.”
Dr. Michael White, an Associate Professor of Genetics at Washington University in the St. Louis School of Medicine declared it a “Completely insane decision to walk away from one of the most promising medical technologies, allowing the US to get smoked in this area of biotech by other countries with more foresight.”
“A bad day for science, and huge blow to our national security,” declared immunologist and virologist Rick White. “This decision will have dangerous repercussions.”
READ MORE: ‘Racist and Cruel’: Trump Torched for Claim Undocumented Workers Do Farm Labor ‘Naturally’