President Trump’s first-term surgeon general, Jerome Adams, sharply criticized the decision by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday to pare back investments in mRNA vaccine projects, including those underway to help fight bird flu and COVID-19.
“I’ve tried to be objective & non-alarmist in response to current HHS actions – but quite frankly this move is going to cost lives,” Adams said in a post on the social platform X on Tuesday.
“mRNA technology has uses that go far beyond vaccines… and the vaccine they helped develop in record time is credited with saving millions,” he continued.
Kennedy announced on Tuesday that HHS will wind down its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and cancel contracts for 22 projects, worth a total of about $500 million.
“We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted,” Kennedy said Tuesday, adding, “the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”
The decision comes after HHS said it conducted a “comprehensive review” of mRNA-related investments that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency said pandemic-era vaccine technologies that failed to meet “current scientific standards” will be phased out in favor of whole-virus vaccines and novel platform.
Adams was known as a relatively low-profile member of Trump’s first administration, but he has become a prominent voice speaking out against the public health policies and decisions carried out during the president’s second term.
During the pandemic, Adams at times broke from Trump, such as when the president downplayed the death toll of COVID-19 or suggested injecting bleach to combat infections.
