We have as the head of Health and Human Services a man who loves drinking and swimming in disease-infested fluids, nearly wiped out Samoa with his anti-vaxx dingbat propaganda, and, let it never be forgotten, has a dead worm in his so-called brain. The Republican committee chairman who oversaw RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing is a doctor, and still let RFK through. Ever since then, Secretary Brain Worm has been busy gutting the personnel of all our health agencies, dismantling the advisory committees that determine which vaccines to develop for the coming season, maligning people with autism, and ushering the US towards the worst measles outbreak this century. But there’s no rest for the wearisome; on Tuesday, RFK announced he was canceling 22 contracts worth about $500 million related to mRNA vaccines. The projects had previously been funded by HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Actual experts, of which RFK is not, are calling the cuts dangerous.
It’s like our fire departments were just disbanded: “This isn’t just about vaccines,” Rick Bright, who directed BARDA from 2016 to 2020, said in a text message. “It’s about whether we’ll be ready when the next crisis hits. Cutting mRNA development now puts every American at greater risk. The Covid pandemic showed us what’s possible when science moves fast,” he added. “Dismantling that momentum now is like disbanding the fire department because the fire’s out.”
RFK croaks about mRNA: “After reviewing the science and consulting top experts at NIH and FDA, HHS has determined that mRNA technology poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses,” Kennedy said in a video announcement on X. “Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” he added. “That’s why we’re moving beyond the limitations of mRNA for respiratory viruses and investing in better solutions.”
A fact check by Moderna: HHS said in its initial press release on Tuesday that BARDA was terminating an award to the University of Texas Medical Branch and the biotechnology company Moderna to develop an mRNA-based vaccine for H5N1, the strain of bird flu that has infected dozens of people in the United States. But a Moderna spokesperson said on Wednesday the contract was canceled in May. HHS has since amended its press release to say that it is “restructuring” collaborations that affect Moderna’s research on nucleic acid-based vaccines.
RFK doesn’t understand how mRNA works at all: “That’s exactly why mRNA is so valuable: It’s the only platform where you can actually update the vaccine really quickly,” said Dr. Jake Scott, an infectious disease specialist at Stanford Medicine. Terminating mRNA contracts under BARDA is “a very misguided, irresponsible and I would say reckless move,” Scott said. “It really does reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of how vaccines work and how a vaccine against a respiratory virus in particular should be expected to work.”
Back to old technology: Kennedy said Tuesday that the BARDA funding would be shifted “toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate,” such as whole-virus vaccines, which use weakened or deactivated versions of viruses to trigger immune responses. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said whole-virus vaccines have been around since the late 1800s, noting that “we make safer, better vaccines” today due to technological advances. The slashing of mRNA contracts is “yet another policy decision engineered by our Secretary of Health and Human Services that is not science-based,” Offit said. “That’s a dangerous thing to do.”
You guys, the sycophants running HHS’s comms can’t even keep track of their misdeeds in their press releases. HHS: “We’re terminating Moderna’s mRNA bird flu vaccine!” Moderna: “You did that three months ago.” I know it’s not the worst crime HHS is committing here, but it’s killing me nonetheless. RFK has shown he doesn’t have any understanding of how the mRNA technology works — twisting the fact that mRNA is mutation-specific into somehow being a bad thing is just plain asinine. Yes, it’s specific to certain strains; AND it’s the most easily updated vaccine technology we have, that can be reprogrammed to combat new strains as they arrive. Plus how rich is it that RFK is now trying to pass himself off as supportive of “safer, broader” vaccines? Ultimately, though, I don’t even buy it. I think singling out mRNA is just his first move towards achieving his dream of tanking vaccines altogether.
But I expect all this from RFK. I’d like to hear what Senator Doctor Bill Cassidy has to say for himself and his ill-advised confirmation of RFK now.
photos credit: Francis Chung/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com, Getty and via Instagram
I saw a video that talked about how a lot of the folks surrounding RFKjr are invested in supplements and “alternative medicine” including his wife. They make money pushing this stuff so discrediting science as much as possible works in their favor. Its all a grift.
As opposed to the ones shilling medicine made in labs for profit? Drug companies have a history of causing MAJOR damage. Let’s not forget that.
One doesn’t cancel out the other, lets not forget that. There is a ton of money being made in the supplement industry too and very little regulation because its not considered “medicine” but considered closer to food. RFKjr and co plan to keep that practice going and strip people of necessary vaccines. They are also going after things like cancer screenings.
I mean Moderna made a shit ton of money from vaccines but those vaccines also saved thousands of lives–two things can be true.
Can’t say the same about beef tallow or Vitamin E cream or cod liver oil or whatever BS this man is hocking on behalf of the supplement industry.
The issue with the pharmaceutical industry isn’t the mere existence of (effective) medicine–which is a useful and good thing– the issue is an insanely profitable industry that continues to jack up their prices to line the pockets of their shareholders.
The best parts about our healthcare system are the result of a triangulation of resources. We have many places where university research teams, pharmaceutical companies and investors, and government agencies all work together to breakthrough new discoveries. We have all benefited from that collaboration for so long. The funding of this work allows major healthcare advances to be discovered.
I’m especially pissed because they are developing an mRNA vaccine for pancreatic cancer. It has shown effective in early phase clinical trials. One of my college friends died this past year from pancreatic cancer, and he leaves behind so many devastated people. I really hope that work is not impacted by these funding cuts.
Don’t forget the eugenics. For decades, the wellness industry has promoted the idea that you can control your health outcomes by [following this diet/taking this supplement/meditating/journaling/optimizing your workout/etc.]. It’s a very short step to believing it’s your fault if you get sick, and only a slightly bigger step to believing sick people deserve what they get and we shouldn’t use resources to make them well.
The grift, yes, but also the sense of superiority and contempt for others is strong with these jerks, too.
As for mRNA technology, they were, if I remember correctly, using it to develop treatments for cancers like pancreatic and colon — hard to treat and deadly diseases that (at least in the case of colon cancer) are on the rise. This is a devastating setback to that research.
@salmonpuff you make some excellent points. This is a huge blow to scientific research and will absolutely impact America’s ability to respond to the next global pandemic.
While you critique drug and pharma companies, vaccines have saved millions of lives not thousands, millions. Vaccines are one of the advancements in human history that has helped to prevent the greatest loss of life(along with things like sanitation, and antibiotics). Stopping research mid-stream is something almost impossible to recover from.
Sweet Lord..This man will do more harm to Americans than anyone else. Will Republicans not take a stand on anything???! Viruses know no political party. Public safety is the brightest red line! People should be furious over this! This is the most unqualified cabinet in the history of this country!
They want us dead and will do whatever they can to achieve it. The ACA is next.
This man is a true example of ‘I know I’m smart… but I don’t understand this thing. Therefore, it isn’t worth knowing cause I AM SMART’.
I run into these idiots too often .
Yes! You nailed it! That is this guy!
Moron… Some of us depend on vaccines to be able to leave the house, but we can’t be the only ones vaccinated for that to work.
I feel like this was totally expected of this imbecile. I wish the billionaires in this country would step up and fill in the gaps. 500 million in contracts cancelled? Get three or four billionaires to finance that amount instead. Pipe dream, I know, and Mackenzie Scott can’t do it all by herself.
The billionaire would never. They want us all dead because they think they can just replace us with AI.
Here’s the part that I don’t get: If the rest of us are all gravely ill —or dead— how will the billionaires make more money? How will they even spend what they have? Don’t they need an underclass to function, and a class with at least somewhat flexible income/resources to maintain themselves in splendor? Someone’s got to do the work of daily life, no?
Yes, theoretically they still need us to consume their products—so that should afford us a level of protection. But in reality all they really need to do is convince enough people that the company they own is worth a trillion dollars (or whatever) even if they don’t produce a damn thing. Elon will still be a billionaire tomorrow even if the Tesla factories all closed because he has enough shareholders ready to sell their Tesla stock to the next fool. And yeah, you could argue that if nobody buys their shit their stock prices plummet and their net worth goes down but they’re still worth billions of dollars.
TBH this is why billionaires shouldn’t exist. Nobody should have such vast amounts of wealth to the point where they have zero obligation to have any real skin in the game. They should be meant to feel the consequences of the financial and business decisions like anyone else. Alas…
Bob is demented and is going to get so many people killed because of his pseudoscience and lies.
Colbert went hard with “F you, you roid-addled nepo-carnie” and “That’s like saying, ‘Kids, I’m turning off the GPS. We’re going to make our way to Six Flags by using the stars! Hand Daddy the sextant.’”
I quote because my anger and despair rob me of adequate language.
I also liked how he introduced his comments … “Oh, there’s bad news for fans of living”.
I went to prep school with RFK 2 and he was stoopid even then. He was thrown out because (and it was the last straw for the headmaster) because his pet falcon got out of its cage and was strangled in the venetian blinds. This new phase of his life weaponizes his biases and stupidity.
His pet falcon? Did you guys go to school at Hogwarts?
I think his parents are rolling in their graves. I’m so happy the rest of the Kennedys have disavowed him.
Geezus, does he kill everything around him – pet falcon, beheads whales – what a selfish, careless monster.
My partner was involved in falconry as a young man – took a lot of discipline and dedication to the well-being of an animal. This guy shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near anything that’s alive.
He is a grifter- everything he does is a move towards putting money in his own pocket.
Yet everyone who voted for a gop senator is responsible for all the deaths he will cause.
“Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” he added.
Honest question… is there any vaccine he ACTUALLY supports? I can’t think of one at the moment so this just reads as complete bs to me. Like, “suuuuuure we’d support safe, effective vaccines… if you ever made any”. It’s just a matter of time until he’s found a loosely plausible reason to pull support for every vaccine in our arsenal.
This just gets me. I had a convo with my doctor a couple of weeks ago about upcoming vaccinations–we talked about measles (had the disease as a kid, had the the vax for grad school, I’m good to go there), covid, tetanus, & the flu. Flu shot I can get this fall, but covid…that’s another story, even though I’m considered high risk. But hey, we have really effective ways of treating covid now! Swell.
The true depth of this man’s stupidity and recklessness won’t be fully realized until we hit flu season. Buckle up, y’all.
This is exactly why I got my MMR booster recently. I work with small children and with the measles outbreak I needed the booster.
I have asthma and I’m very worried that I will not be able to get an updated flu vaccine this coming flu season. Thank goodness I mostly work from home. But that doesn’t mean my kid won’t bring it home from school. Kennedy and co want to kill is all.
For the life of me, I will never understand what motivates these people to destroy that which is good and amplify evil. All day every day.
I ask myself this all the time.
What the hell happened to these people?
If/when Trump dies or is relieved of duties, I’m hoping that Vance fires this diseased individual.
I wrote to my Congressional rep in disgust over this this morning. Not that it will make a difference as he’s a Republiscum. That party is blindly leading this country over a cliff.