Earlier this month, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he’s cutting nearly $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Famously, mRNA technology is what led to safe and effective COVID vaccines less than a year after the start of the pandemic.
The $500 million cuts to vaccine contracts will target COVID and flu research, but experts say the effects will stretch beyond this. These cancellations will make waves for other aspects of health within the United States and sow further distrust in science and medicine, experts told HuffPost.
Kennedy has a history of anti-vaccine beliefs and has falsely linked vaccines to autism, a claim that has been debunked over and over.
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