“People will die because we are cutting short funds for this technology,” Dr. Jerome Adams said in an interview with CBS News on August 10.
RFK cuts mRNA vaccine funding as HHS focuses on other types
Heath Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced cuts to 22 programs working to develop mRNA vaccines.
Dr. Jerome Adams, former surgeon general to President Donald Trump, has harsh warnings about the potential impact of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., cancelling funds for MRNA vaccine development.
“People will die because we are cutting short funds for this technology,” Adams said on August 10 in an interview with CBS.
Adams served from 2017 until the end of Trump’s first term. At that time, the administration helped develop mRNA vaccines to combat COVID-19 through operational speed. Adams described the initiative as Trump’s biggest achievement, “no bar,” and said he was concerned that his administration is turning away from mRNA technology.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is used in two of the most common Covid-19 vaccines approved in the US. Adams cited other experts and said it would take 18-24 months to develop a vaccine without technology.
“The most conservative estimates saved at least 2 million lives,” Adams said. “Many people say that the vaccine saved up to 20 million lives.”
X In a video posted on August 5th, Kennedy said the decision to cut funding for mRNA vaccine development will affect 22 projects worth nearly $500 million to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency, helping businesses develop medical supplies to address public health threats.
Kennedy called the vaccine technology “ineffective” and Adams said it was “simply not true.”
Kennedy has been a longtime vaccine skeptic and has transformed vaccine, food and medicine policies as a national public health official.
Adams also said police rhetoric “incites flames that lead to situations like we saw on the CDC,” preventing Kennedy’s response to the August 8 shooting at Atlanta’s US Disease Control and Prevention Headquarters, which insist on the life of police officers.
Authorities have identified Patrick Joseph White, 30, of Georgia, as the shooter. White’s neighbor, Nancy Hallst, told The New York Times that White believes the vaccine hurt him.
“You have to understand what people are hearing,” Adams said of Kennedy’s rhetoric. “And when we call the CDC Cesspool… when we make proven claims over and over again about the safety and efficacy of a vaccine, it can have unintended consequences.”
The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Adams’ remarks. In an email to HHS staff on August 9, Kennedy said the filming was “a reminder of the extremely human challenges civil servants face sometimes.
“But it also reinforces the importance of the work you do every day,” he added.
Contributions: Adrianna Rodriguez and Ken Alltucker, USA Today; Reuters
