The US Health Department led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – known for its critical positions towards vaccines – has decided to cancel funding for 500 million dollars intended for the development of MRNA vaccines Against respiratory viruses such as influence and Covid-19. This measure will affect 22 important pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Modern, and includes the interruption of an advanced contract with modern for the vaccine against avian influence.
Kennedy Jr. motivated the decision by stating that MRNA technology “involves more risks than beneficial for these respiratory viruses”, declaring the intention to move these funds to alternative vaccination platforms that promise greater safety and a wider effectiveness, even in the presence of viral mutations.
Vaccines, USA Tagging Fondi Research on MRNA
The reaction of the international scientific community was immediate and strongly critical. Roberto Burioni, virologist of the San Raffaele University of Milan, defined the decision a serious mistake, reiterating that the vaccines in Mrrna “saved millions of lives and demonstrated an excellent security profile”. Matteo Bassetti, director of the infectious diseases of the San Martino Policlinico di Genova, compared Kennedy Jr. to “A wolf guarding a flock of sheep”, accusing the American administration of blocking scientific progress for ideological reasons.
Bassetti also underlined the great potential of MRNA technology, highlighting that quadrivalent vaccines against influenza and advanced studies for viruses such as human metapneumovirus, influenza 3, syncial virus, cytomegalovirus and epstein-barr are already under development. Even more important are the prospects of this technology in the fight against complex diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, HIV and some types of cancer.
Immunologist Robin Shattock of Imperial College in London also expressed deep concern for the American decision, warning that this could weaken the response of the United States to future pandemics and food dangerous disinformation campaigns on vaccines, thus causing a potential increase in suffering and preventable deaths.
The pediatrician David Elliman, an honorary professor at the University College in London, highlighted the global consequences of the decision, underlining that in a moment of general decrease in vaccination rates in the world, choices based on ideological convictions instead of solid scientific evidence risk compromising global public health, in particular the childish one.
The controversy remains on and promises to intensify, with the concerned scientific community that choices such as the one adopted by the U.S. Department of Health can significantly hinder medical progress and the effective response to future pandemic risks.
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