Robert Kennedy Jr., known as an anti-vaccine advocate and the Minister of Health, has faced strong backlash from scientists and senior officials, both current and former, of the administration after he repeatedly stopped the support for messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine development. The cessation of vaccine support is pointed out to pose threats not only to public health policy but also to industrial competitiveness and national security.
According to foreign reports including The New York Times on the 8th, experts are increasingly opposing Minister Kennedy's suspension of support for mRNA vaccine development. Earlier, on the 5th (local time), Minister Kennedy canceled a $500 million (700 billion won) government subsidy contract for mRNA vaccine development.
◇Development of avian influenza mRNA vaccine also halted
mRNA has changed the paradigm of vaccine development. While previously, vaccines induced immune responses by injecting inactivated viruses or certain proteins, mRNA vaccines work by delivering genetic information that helps the human body to synthesize viral proteins and produce antibodies against them.
mRNA vaccines can be synthesized immediately as long as there is genetic information, allowing for rapid responses to mutations. There is no need to culture and purify viruses, significantly reducing the time for vaccine production and supply. This was instrumental in deploying vaccines in less than a year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Minister Kennedy has denied the advantages and contributions of mRNA vaccines, questioning their safety and effectiveness and criticizing them as "the most dangerous vaccine in history." On the day he announced the cancellation of mRNA support, he wrote on his social media (SNS) that "mRNA vaccines do not prevent respiratory diseases like COVID-19 and influenza, and can be rendered ineffective by a single mutation of the virus," adding, "As we saw in the pandemic, mRNA vaccines do not effectively block viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract."
Minister Kennedy's decision to halt support for mRNA vaccines is expected to significantly impact 22 projects under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). BARDA is preparing for a pandemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. In this regard, it had entered into a $600 million (830 billion won) contract with Moderna for mRNA vaccine development last May, but this has now been canceled.
The Ministry of Health has announced that it will support vaccine development using viruses killed by heat, ultraviolet light, or drugs instead of mRNA. Although this is a long-validated method, it requires large-scale virus culture, which takes a long time. In the case of a pandemic or a bioterrorism event, it may take months to supply vaccines, and there is a possibility of limited use due to side effects when vaccinating children.
◇Experts in science and the administration say "threat to national security"
Vaccine experts criticized this decision as "irresponsible." Stanley Plotkin, a professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania who developed the rubella and rotavirus vaccines, noted, "mRNA technology is optimized for rapid response and provides immediate and robust immunity."
Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, stated, "If there had been no mRNA vaccines, the number of COVID-19 deaths would have been much higher," and criticized Minister Kennedy for revealing his goal to raise questions about all vaccines through inaccurate statements.
Current and former senior officials in the U.S. administration have also warned that discarding mRNA vaccines poses a threat to national security.
Chris Meekins, deputy minister for pandemic preparedness at BARDA, indicated that "the suspension of mRNA research by BARDA has created vulnerabilities in national security," emphasizing that "the speed of developing new biological defense capabilities is an asset for national security."
Stephen Morrison, director general of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a foreign policy think tank, remarked, "Disarming oneself in the face of ongoing biological threats puts Americans at risk."
Experts acknowledge that there are limitations to mRNA vaccine technology, but they argue that it is essential to secure as diverse a range of vaccine technologies as possible to respond to pandemic threats.
Paul Friedrichs, former White House pandemic policy director, stated, "We must have multiple options to respond flexibly in a crisis." Dawn O'Connell, former deputy minister of health, warned that "if the United States pulls back from innovation and development investments, relationships with corporations will break, and the global pace of vaccine development will decline."
Stephanie Psaki, former White House global health security coordinator, described the decision to discard the tool that can be mass-produced most rapidly as shocking, stating, "If new threats arise in the next three and a half years, Minister Kennedy will regret this decision."