Cheyenne Suarez

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Phoenix, Arizona, August 23, 2024. Olivier Touron, AFP/File

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Phoenix, Arizona, August 23, 2024.

Article (news)

US health chief based vaccine cuts on misinformation, researchers say

Agence France-Presse

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17547081192681743115047063RFK-afp.jpg.webp" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Phoenix, Arizona, August 23, 2024. Olivier Touron, AFP/File"/>Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in Phoenix, Arizona, August 23, 2024. Olivier Touron, AFP/File</div>WASHINGTON — US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited false claims to justify terminating 22 federal contracts for mRNA-based vaccines, researchers said Friday, a day after the World Health Organization called the decision a major blow.Kennedy on Tuesday announced the cancellation of contracts worth around $500 million, marking his latest attempt to infuse vaccine skepticism into the core of US health policy.Citing medical experts, disinformation watchdog NewsGuard identified a series of false claims about the vaccines — credited with saving millions of lives during the Covid-19 pandemic — that Kennedy promoted to explain the termination.Kennedy claimed that mRNA vaccines were responsible for &quot;new mutations&quot; of the virus, thus creating new variants that can prolong pandemics.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/3/27/rfk-jr-s-healthy-again-agenda-begins-with-massive-health-dept-layoffs-0638">RFK Jr&#x27;s &#x27;Healthy Again&#x27; agenda begins with massive health dept layoffs </a></div>&quot;Kennedy is mistaken in statements made when ceasing funding for mRNA vaccine development,&quot; Stephen Evans, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the London-based Science Media Centre.&quot;No vaccine, including mRNA encourages new mutations.&quot;Kennedy also made two previously debunked claims about the effectiveness of the vaccines.He stated that mRNA vaccines &quot;fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like Covid&quot; and added that mRNA technology &quot;poses more risks than benefits.&quot;Evans said the vaccines were &quot;extremely effective against Covid, preventing deaths, hospitalisations and clinical or sub-clinical infection.&quot;&quot;No vaccine has a zero incidence of side-effects, some of which can be serious, but the benefits of both mRNA vaccines and other types of vaccine –- lives saved and illness reduced -- hugely outweigh the risks,&quot; Charles Bangham, a professor of immunology at the Imperial College London, told the Science Media Centre.On Thursday, WHO immunization figurehead Joachim Hombach called the US decision to terminate the contracts a &quot;significant blow.&quot;&quot;mRNA vaccines are a very important technology and platform which has served us extremely well for Covid. We also know there is very promising work going on in relation to influenza vaccines,&quot; he said.Echoing those comments, US experts have warned that the funding cuts threaten critical research and public health around the world.&quot;This sets back vaccine science by a decade,&quot; Andrew Pekosz, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote on X.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/14/rfk-jr-vaccine-critic-turned-us-health-secretary-hints-at-overhaul-0904">RFK Jr, vaccine critic turned US health secretary, hints at overhaul </a></div>&quot;Of course they didn&#x27;t read the science or listen to the experts... if they did, they wouldn&#x27;t have made this decision.&quot;Kennedy, who spent two decades sowing misinformation around immunization, has overseen a major overhaul of US health policy since taking office.He has fired, for example, a panel of vaccine experts that advise the government and replacing them with his own appointees.In its first meeting, the new panel promptly voted to ban a longstanding vaccine preservative targeted by the anti-vaccine movement, despite its strong safety record.He has also ordered a sweeping new study on the long-debunked link between vaccines and autism.<div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited false claims to justify terminating 22 federal contracts for mRNA-based vaccines, researchers said Friday, a day after the World Health Organization called the decision a major blow.

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited false claims to justify terminating 22 federal contracts for mRNA-based vaccines, researchers said Friday, a day after the World Health Organization called the decision a major blow.