Report: mRNA vaccines are in RFK Jr’s crosshairs; funding in question
Federal support for mRNA vaccine research appears in jeopardy after KFF Health News reported Sunday that officials at the National Institutes of Health have directed scientists to remove all references to the lifesaving technology from their grant applications. All such research is now under direct scrutiny from health secretary and long-time anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A senior official at the NIH's National Cancer Institute confirmed to KFF that NIH acting Director Matthew Memoli "sent an email across the NIH instructing that any grants, contracts, or collaborations involving mRNA vaccines be reported up the chain to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s office and the White House."
Further, two independent scientists told the outlet that they were informed by NIH officials that any mention of mRNA vaccines needed to be removed from their grant applications. One, a biomedical researcher in Philadelphia, said that the NIH had "flagged our pending grant as having an mRNA vaccine component." The other, a researcher in New York who works on vaccines but not mRNA vaccines, was told that background mentions of mRNA vaccine efficacy in their previous grant applications needed to be removed from future applications.