RFK Jr.'s termination of crucial vaccine projects could prove deadly

After President Donald Trump picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of health and human services as a reward for his support during the 2024 election, there were numerous warnings that the nominee’s fringe views — particularly his embrace of antivaccine junk science — could have a devastating effect on public health.

Yet many Republicans who acknowledged that Kennedy had a history of bizarre opinions seemed reassured by his promises that he would follow the best science. Among them was Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician and strong proponent of vaccines, whose decision to vote for Kennedy played a key role in his confirmation.

On Wednesday, after the news that the HHS was terminating crucial vaccine development projects worth $500 million, Cassidy called the decision "unfortunate" in a post on the X social network. That’s a pretty weak word for a move that, as the senator notes, will undercut technology "needed to combat cancer and infectious disease."

The canceled projects have to do with mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines, a major target of conspiratorial scaremongering on the right. Kennedy and others have claimed that mRNA technology, which was key to the COVID-19 vaccine, are unproven and dangerous. False rumors have been circulating for several years, claiming that mRNA vaccines alter people’s DNA and are linked to deadly diseases including aggressive cancers in young people.

While Kennedy didn’t repeat such claims in his video explaining his decision, he asserted — with no evidence — that mRNA technology "poses more risks than benefits" against upper respiratory infections like COVID-19 and the flu and can even prolong pandemics by encouraging virus mutations.

Kennedy says he acted after consulting "top experts." Of course, that depends on who the "experts" are. Notably, two months ago, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the immunization advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and replaced them with eight new ones more congenial to his own views. Later that month, he also appointed Lyn Redwood, former president of his anti-vaccination group, the Children’s Health Defense, to an unspecified role at HHS. Redwood has made at least one presentation to the vaccine panel — and was caught falsifying a source.

Contrary to Kennedy’s claims, mRNA technology is key to the rapid vaccine development needed to deal with virus mutations. It could be instrumental in the response to a possible bird flu epidemic or a new influenza pandemic.

In other words, the cancellation of these projects could very possibly lead to deaths.

What’s more, mRNA technology has shown promise in developing treatments for some cancers. It’s unclear whether that research will be affected, since the canceled projects focused on respiratory illnesses; but medical research in one area often has an application in others. And the move only increases vacation hesitancy.

What now? If Congress has any guts, it will hold hearings on Kennedy’s disastrous leadership at HHS where one of the most mainstream high-level officials, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research director Vinay Prasad, was recently pushed out — apparently because of his past support for Democrats and criticism of Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump, who still rightly touts Operation Warp Speed — the rapid development of the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, whose inventors won Nobel Prizes — as a top achievement of his first term, has promised to meet with Kennedy and discuss his decision. How ironic if one of this administration’s most catastrophic moves is reversed because it’s a blow to the president’s Nobel-seeking ego.

Opinions expressed by Cathy Young, a writer for The Bulwark, are her own.

By Cathy Young

Cathy Young is a writer for The Bulwark.