Latest news with #vaccineresearch
CBS News
2 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
Ex-Trump surgeon general says RFK Jr.'s halt to mRNA vaccine research threatens "most promising areas of modern medicine"
Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams — who served during the first Trump administration — said Sunday that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr's halting of around $500 million dollars for mRNA vaccine research risks stalling progress in "many of the most promising areas of modern medicine." Kennedy announced last week that the administration was canceling 22 mRNA vaccine development projects, saying the vaccines "fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu." The projects were funded through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA. Kennedy said the funds would be shifted toward "safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate." Adams, who appeared Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," said Kennedy's assertions about the efficacy of mRNA vaccines are "simply not true." "We know that by the most conservative estimates, upward of 2 million lives have been saved because of mRNA technology," Adams said. "It helped us develop COVID-19 vaccines in record time. And it's, quite frankly, President Trump's greatest achievement." The mRNA technology was central to Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership aimed at quickly developing COVID-19 vaccines at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic near the end of Mr. Trump's first term. If the U.S. had relied on older vaccine technology, it could have taken an extra 18 to 24 months to develop COVID-19 shots, Adams said. Asked about Kennedy's move by CBS News earlier this week, Mr. Trump said, "Operation Warp Speed was, whether you're Republican or a Democrat, considered one of the most incredible things ever done in this country," while noting that he had upcoming meetings on the topic. Adams, who was involved in the Operation Warp Speed effort, said it's "fascinating" to him that, as Mr. Trump and his allies discuss whether he deserves a Nobel Prize, "the thing that he should be considered for the Nobel Prize for, his health secretary is trying to undermine." The former surgeon general outlined that mRNA is a type of natural molecule that's present in the body and operates like a "recipe card that tells your body how to make a protein." He said the technology "helps us develop vaccines and new treatments" in other areas — from cancers to HIV to the flu and the Zika virus. "These are advances that are not going to happen now," Adams said. "People are going to die because we're cutting short funding for this technology." Adams also criticized Kennedy for his response to a shooting outside Centers for Disease Control and Prevention buildings in Atlanta on Friday. Investigators have been looking into possible motives, including the possibility that the suspect believed he was sick as a result of the COVID vaccine, multiple sources told CBS News. "How you respond to a crisis defines a leader. Quite frankly, Secretary Kennedy has failed in his first major test in this regard," Adams said, accusing Kennedy of issuing "tepid response" to the shooting, while adding, "and that's not even considering how his inflammatory rhetoric in the past have actually contributed to a lot of what's been going on." In a statement Friday, Kennedy said, "No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others." But Adams argued Kennedy has not "unequivocally condemned the violence." "There's an out there," Adams said. "If you don't believe that people are working to protect the public, then that means it's okay to commit violence, at least in some people's eyes." The former surgeon general said people at the CDC were calling him after the shooting asking him to make a public statement "because they felt under attack." "They didn't know if this was going to continue," Adams said. "They were scared, and they wanted someone, someone who they felt had a public voice, to go out there and say, 'This is wrong. Violence is wrong.'"
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Key GOP Vote To Confirm RFK Jr. Now Calls His Vaccine Policies 'Unfortunate'
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to cancel a $500 million investment in lifesaving mRNA vaccine research aimed at protecting the U.S. against future viral threats. 'It is unfortunate that the Secretary just canceled a half a billion worth of work, wasting the money which is already invested,' Cassidy wrote in an online post on Wednesday following the HHS announcement. 'He has also conceded to China an important technology needed to combat cancer and infectious disease.' 'President Trump wants to Make America Healthy Again and Make America Great Again. This works against both of President Trump's goals,' the senator added. Kennedy wouldn't be in Donald Trump's administration without Cassidy's support for his confirmation earlier this year. The physician, who has served in the Senate since 2015, swallowed his concerns about RFK Jr.'s long record of anti-vaccine views under pressure from Trump's MAGA supporters who have an eye on his reelection next year. Cassidy has worked hard to get back into Trump's good graces despite facing a GOP primary. The Louisiana Republican, who serves as the chair of the Senate health committee, said in February that Kennedy assured him he would not dismantle the nation's vaccine safety systems; the HHS secretary has moved to do exactly that. 'If Mr. Kennedy is confirmed, I will use my authority as Chairman of the Senate Committee with oversight of HHS to rebuff any attempts to remove the public's access to life-saving vaccines without ironclad, causational scientific evidence that can be defended before the mainstream scientific community and before Congress,' Cassidy said in a Senate floor speech. 'I will carefully watch for any effort to wrongfully sow public fear about vaccines between confusing references of coincidence and anecdote.' He added: 'But my support is built on assurances that this will not have to be a concern and that he and I can work together to build an agenda to make America healthy again.' Messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology has been used to successfully save countless lives, including by developing vaccines to protect against coronavirus. Medical experts were horrified this week at the Trump administration's decision to shut the door on a critical tool used to fight future pandemics. Jerome Adams, who served as the nation's 20th surgeon general during Trump's first term, warned on social media that the decision will have very real negative consequences. 'I've tried to be objective & non-alarmist in response to current HHS actions — but quite frankly this move is going to cost lives,' he wrote. 'mRNA technology has uses that go far beyond vaccines … and the vaccine they helped develop in record time is credited with saving millions.' Dr. Michael Osterholm, the director at the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, told PBS it was the worst decision for public health in 50 years. 'I have served seven different presidential administrations advising them, and I have been through several pandemics. And I can say unequivocally that this was the most dangerous public health decision I have ever seen made by a government body,' he said.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
The ‘science' behind why RFK axed mRNA vaccine funding
The scientific community was rocked this week when Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, cut $500m (£372m) in funding for mRNA vaccine research. His reasoning was that the jabs are not just ineffective, but encourage new mutations and prolong pandemics by pushing viruses to evolve into ever more dangerous variants. In some ways, he is correct. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that vaccination programmes can create beefed-up viruses, in a similar way to how antibiotics drive bacteria to become resistant. 'Leaky' vaccines which do not offer total protection, such as the Covid jab, are particularly bad for this. Last year, a team from the Institute of Life Sciences in India took samples of the Covid virus from vaccinated and unvaccinated people and found those in the vaccinated had more mutations. 'Vaccine-driven virulence evolution' 'Our findings suggest that vaccines play an important role in the evolution of the virus genome,' the team concluded in a paper published in the journal Vaccine. 'These mutations become fixed in the viral population due to the selective pressure imposed by vaccination.' Princeton University has also warned that 'vaccine-driven virulence evolution' in the Covid virus is a risk, and have called for monitoring. Likewise, Rockefeller University has warned that the time between the first and second doses of the vaccine could 'serve as a sort of a breeding ground for the virus to acquire new mutations.' However, this is true of all vaccines, not just mRNA jabs, so it is unclear why they have been targeted. In a statement about the funding withdrawal, RFK Jr said that 'mRNA only codes for a small part of the viral proteins, usually a single antigen.' All it takes is 'one mutation – and the vaccine becomes ineffective.' But this feels like a misunderstanding of how mRNA vaccines work. The jabs introduce a modified mRNA molecule that codes for a part of the virus, which in Covid's case is the spike protein. It's virtually the same as how traditional vector vaccines work, but they carry a gene which takes the coding message. Both target a single antigen. 'Misleading to single out mRNA vaccines' RFK Jr warned that mRNA jabs drive 'antigenic shift', a phenomenon where a virus evolves a new combination of surface antigens to evade the immune system. But this is generally true of viruses which are continually shifting to get round the body's defences. It is why the flu jab needs to be reformulated each year. In short, there appears to be no evidence to suggest that mRNA jabs are worse than traditional vaccines at causing mutations and despite calls for proof, RFK Jr has produced none. Christopher Chis, professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College London, said: 'It is misleading to single out mRNA vaccines for promoting mutations and failing to protect against common cold-like symptoms; this is true for all respiratory virus vaccines that are given by injection and can stimulate a protective immune response. 'Better protection is needed but until we have next-generation alternatives that can completely block infection in the nose and lung, mRNA vaccines will continue to be important and valuable.' There is also little evidence to support his claim that the vaccines 'don't perform well against viruses that infect the respiratory tract' claiming that the pandemic showed mRNA jabs fell short. Although recent figures suggest that Covid vaccines did not save as many lives as previously thought, it is likely they did save 2.5 million lives worldwide, with a large chunk of this thanks to mRNA jabs. Prof Peter Openshaw, Professor of Experimental Medicine, Imperial College London, said: 'Some of what RFK Jr reportedly said is technically correct but does not recognise the vast positive impact of RNA vaccines. 'It is true that immunity can drive mutations, but this is true of both post-infection and vaccine-induced immunity.' There is also good evidence that mRNA flu jabs are outperforming traditional jabs in trials, suggesting they are beneficial for respiratory viruses. In June, Moderna published phase three results showing its new mRNA vaccine against influenza produces superior results to traditional jabs. Pros and cons of vaccination There are some reasons to be concerned about mRNA jabs, particularly in younger people. In June, manufacturers added warnings for the heart conditions myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – and pericarditis – inflammation of the lining outside the heart, to the prescribing information of Covid mRNA vaccines. Within the first two years of the vaccine roll out Britain's Medicines Healthcare and Regulatory Agency had received 851 reports of myocarditis linked to the Pfizer vaccination and 251 linked to the Moderna jab. There were also more than 700 cases of pericarditis linked to the vaccines and several deaths. Britain would usually expect around 60 new cases of myocarditis per million people each year, and 100 new cases of pericarditis, so it does seem that the vaccines have caused a rise in the normal background rate. Pre-print papers have also emerged recently suggesting the jabs may reprogramme the immune system, cause the cells batteries to fail and even trigger cancer, but so far there has been no peer review looking at whether any of these claims stack up. 'No reliable published evidence' In 2023, a paper in the journal Nature concluded that, although vaccination had the potential for causing mutations in viruses, it is 'probably the only tool to prevent widespread loss of human lives and huge economic costs.' Dr David Elliman, Honorary Associate Professor, UCL, said: 'There is no reliable published evidence that supports RFK Jr's assertion that the vaccines encourage new mutations and, in so doing, may prolong pandemics. 'The evidence to support this should be made public, so that it can be examined, by experts in the field who have not been picked because of their anti-vaccine views.' RFK Jr insists he is not 'anti-vax' and when he announced the funding cuts said that he 'supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them.'
