WHO Decries US Cancellation of mRNA Vaccine Research as “Unfortunate and Untimely”
Pandemics & Emergencies 06/08/2025 • &
HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr making the announcement to cancel the mRNA research.

WHO says mRNA technology holds particular potential in developing vaccines against emerging epidemic threats. Scientists in the United States and abroad called on US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F Kennedy Jr, to release the data that informed his decision to cancel the US investments in mRNA vaccine research. 

The World Health Organization on Thursday decried the United States decision to cancel some $500 million in current and planned government investments in mRNA vaccine research, describing the decision as “unfortunately and untimely.”

“This is, of course, a significant blow,” said Joachim Hombach, Executive Secretary of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), at a press conference hosted by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for Geneva’s UN press corps.

The mRNA vaccines “served us extremely well for COVID,” Hombach added. “We also know that very promising work is going on in relation to influenza vaccines. From our perspective, mRNA vaccine platforms are particularly useful in developing vaccines against emerging epidemic threats, because these platforms can be very rapidly adapted. So from our perspective, this is an important technology, and work needs to continue.”

Joachim Hombach, WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), at a WHO press briefing Thursday.

Hombach expressed confidence, however that research would continue elsewhere in the world, citing Moderna’s recent publication of successful Phase 3 trial results for a new seasonal mRNA influenza vaccine “which also holds promise in relation to pandemic vaccine development.

“So this is …an unfortunate and untimely move, but we are confident that the research endeavours will continue because it’s an extremely promising technology.”

Scientists demand disclosure of data upon which the decision was made

Scientists in the United States and abroad, meanwhile, called upon the HHS Secretary make public the data supporting the decision by HHS, announced Tuesday, to halt all new investments in mRNA research as well as to  “wind-down” ongoing mRNA vaccine development activities, made through the HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

“RFK and his advisors should tell us on what data he is basing his decision on, so that it can be examined independently and critically,” said Professor Andrew McMichael, emeritus professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford.

“There is a wealth of high-quality data to show mRNA vaccines are safe and effective.”

Prof Robin Shattock, Professor of Mucosal Infection and Immunity, Imperial College London, said it is unclear what evidence Kennedy is referring to, as mRNA vaccines “have been highly scrutinised by regulatory bodies on an ongoing basis”.

“[Kennedy] has provided no evidence to show that alternative vaccines are any different to mRNA vaccines concerning claims of safety and the unfounded claim that mRNA vaccines drive the mutation rate of viruses,” he said.

Claims decision followed ‘comprehensive review’

A healthcare worker in British Columbia, Canada receiving one of the first mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in mid-December 2020; To date, 13.6 billion vaccine doses have been administered with over 70% of the world’s population receiving at least jab, while mRNA vaccines became the dominant technology.

In his announcement, Kennedy said the decision was taken in conjunction with “experts” and “follows a comprehensive review of mRNA-related investments initiated during the COVID-19 public health emergency”.

“BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu,” said Kennedy.

“We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”

However, McMichael said that mRNA vaccines to prevent COVID-19 had been “given to 50 million people in the UK and reduced infection rates by over 70%”. 

“Three doses reduced mortality in the elderly by 93% and in the UK 400,000 lives were saved,” added McMichael.

“Mild side effects were found in about 10%, serious side effects in around 1 in 800; deaths around one per million. I personally have taken that risk seven times.”

AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer and Sanofi Pasteur are amongst the companies affected by the decision – which involves contract terminations, “de-scoping”, rejecting and cancelling “pre-award solicitations”, and restructuring collaborations, according to the HHS media release.

Emory University is the only university named, and it had its contract terminated. The Emory Vaccine Center is one of the world’s foremost vaccine research facilities, investigating vaccines for a range of illnesses including influenza, HIV, cancer, tuberculosis.

‘Impossible’ for mRNA vaccines to increase virus mutation rate

Rendition of the SARS-CoV2 virus that first circulated in Wuhan, China in late 2019. While mutations regularly occurred during the ensuing pandemic, no evidence suggets vaccines accelerated the rate of change.

Kennedy also claimed that mRNA vaccines can help “encourage new mutations and can actually prolong pandemics as the virus constantly mutates to escape the protective effects of the vaccine”.

Mutation is part of the natural process of viruses, and some like HIV mutate faster than others.

McMichael said that it is “impossible” for mRNA vaccines to increase the virus mutation rate, and their major advantage “is that they can be made quickly and can be designed to combat new variants effectively”..

Meanwhile, Prof Stephen Evans, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that, as no mRNA vaccines had been licenced against flu, “there is no large-scale evidence on their efficacy, but no reason to believe they are ineffective”. 

Evans added that “a recent trial showed greater efficacy for an mRNA vaccine than a standard flu vaccine” – apparently referring to the Phase 3 Moderna trial cited by WHO.  

US immunologist Rick Bright, who headed BARDA between 2016 and 2020, described the decision as a “bad day for science and a huge blow to our national security”, warning that there would be “dangerous repercussions”.

Alex Pym, director of Infectious Disease at Wellcome Trust, said that “mRNA vaccine technology has been in development for decades” and “has been shown to be safe and effective against infectious diseases”.

“The US has been a global leader in vaccine R&D and the loss of this funding could be felt worldwide. Continued investment in this area is vital to ensure we fully realise the potential of these promising technologies to existing and emerging diseases,” added Pym.

Kennedy has a long history of anti-vaccine activity, primarily through the organisation he founded, Children’s Health Defense. Anti-vaxxers were a prominent part of his support base during his short-lived presidential campaign, prior to joining forces with Republican candidate Donald Trump in his successful presidential bid. 

An analysis of almost 300 million tweets on Twitter (now X) in 2021 found that 800 accounts were responsible for a third of all vaccine misinformation retweets – and the most prominent of these accounts belonged to Kennedy, who was responsible for more than 13% of these retweets.

Image Credits: E. Fletcher/Health Policy Watch , Flickr – Province of British Columbia, peterschreiber.media/Shutterstock .

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