00:00The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that
00:06Washington is dramatically scaling back vaccine development. Kennedy shared that his department
00:11will cancel contracts and close nearly two dozen projects, totaling roughly $500 million.
00:17The decision is in regards to vaccine programs utilizing messenger ribonucleic acid technology,
00:23better known as MRNA. The U.S. health chief says this technology is ineffective at combating
00:29and providing sufficient immunity to infectious diseases like the flu and COVID-19. Kennedy says
00:35his department will instead focus its efforts on creating a safer, more effective alternative.
00:40He noted that MRNA vaccines collapse when viruses mutate, and instead more focus should be invested
00:47on whole virus vaccines and novel platforms. Infectious disease experts, however, say that
00:52technology is safe, as reflected in its ability to dramatically slow the spread of the coronavirus
00:58pandemic. MRNAs are also now being experimented with for their potential in cancer treatment.
01:05Kennedy says other uses of the technology outside infectious diseases will not be affected.
01:10This is the latest in a string of decisions by the U.S. health secretary to crack down on immunization
01:15and advance his anti-vaccine agenda. In June, Kennedy removed the department's recommendation for COVID-19
01:22shots and fired the panel responsible for vaccine recommendations. Doctors and experts in the field
01:28have called his decisions reckless, short-sighted, and dangerous.
Comments