RFK Jr.'s anti-vaxx stance is jeopardizing cancer treatments
Officials at the National Institutes of Health are reportedly telling scientists to remove any references to mRNA technology from grant applications. It is an ominous sign for the scientific community, now under the control of anti-science conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A senior official at the National Cancer Institute confirmed to KFF Health News that the acting NIH director sent an agency-wide email directing all grants, contracts, and “collaborations involving mRNA vaccines” be reported to Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy’s office and the White House.
mRNA technology, crucial to the development of successful COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, has also exhibited promise in research on HIV/AIDS and cancer due to its ability to stimulate immune responses.
In 2021, Kennedy told Louisiana lawmakers that the COVID-19 vaccine was the “the deadliest vaccine ever made.” Kennedy cited data from the poorly understood, and not at all verifiable Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
As scientists hold their breath to find out whether or not their lifesaving research will be cut, the measles outbreak in Texas continues to spread, now with nearly 300 confirmed cases. Kennedy is still misinforming the public about both the nature of the most recent outbreak and redirecting resources into redundant research on the safety of existing vaccines.
Kennedy wrote an op-ed giving lip service to the MMR vaccine before doing an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity at a Steak ‘n Shake in Florida, where he promoted the idea that it is better to simply catch the measles if you are “healthy” versus taking a vaccine. The downsides to catching the measles in childhood is longterm complications and erasing your immune memory, which far outweigh any immunity you get to the disease.
And while President Donald Trump’s secretary of agriculture does damage control on egg prices, researchers race to develop mRNA-based vaccines in preparation for a potential avian flu pandemic the administration and Kennedy seem ill-equipped to address.