US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr cancelled $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine research.
The decision will hit 22 projects on viruses such as bird flu and COVID-19.
mRNA vaccines were first widely deployed during the pandemic, and are credited with saving millions of lives, but Kennedy believes that they pose “more risks than benefits,” saying they offer incomplete protection and can cause viruses to mutate.
The move is one of several by the Trump administration that will constrain or slow research: The National Science Foundation budget will be more than halved, while health, space, and climate agencies will all see major cuts, and the White House wants to end two greenhouse-gas-monitoring satellite missions, NPR reported.