Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision this week to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in mRNA vaccine funding will leave the United States unprepared for the next pandemic and other public health emergencies, public health experts warned.

“I’ve tried to be objective & non-alarmist in response to current HHS actions—but quite frankly this move is going to cost lives,” President Trump’s former surgeon general, Jerome Adams, said in a post on the social platform X.

“mRNA technology has uses that go far beyond vaccines ... and the vaccine they helped develop in record time is credited with saving millions.”

The first COVID-19 mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna hit the market in 2021, just a year after the virus first appeared. Vaccines typically take years to develop, but the mRNA shots were developed in record time thanks to a massive influx of funding from the first Trump administration, dubbed Operation Warp Speed.

The COVID shots proved safe and effective, and they helped bring about an end to the pandemic. Experts say mRNA technology has the potential to revolutionize treatments for evolving pathogens, especially bird flu, because the platform can be easily modified.

On Tuesday, Kennedy canceled $500 million worth of contracts related to mRNA vaccine research funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

Instead, he said the agency will focus on platforms with “stronger safety records.”

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