Jerome Adams, ex-Trump surgeon general, says mRNA vaccine cuts are 'going to cost lives'
Jerome Adams, the U.S. Surgeon General under President Trump's first term, criticized the Department of Health and Human Services' move this week to cut funding for mRNA vaccine development.
"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 X on Aug. 5.
He added, "mRNA technology has uses that go far beyond vaccines… and the vaccine they helped develop in record time is credited with saving millions."
The HHS, now being led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said in a release on Aug. 5 it is cutting nearly $500 million at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which helps develop mRNA vaccine technology.
Kennedy called the vaccine technology "ineffective" in a video posted on X Aug. 5.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is used in the two most common COVID-19 vaccines licensed in the United States, which were developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna during Trump's first administration and Adams' tenure as surgeon general.
How do mRNA vaccines work?
The COVID-19 vaccine works by instructing the body’s immune system to recognize the virus and creating fighting antibodies to attack it.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is a code that tells the body’s cells to produce just a piece of the virus, the protein on the surface. The code is protected by a lipid coating, like a fat bubble.
Once injected into the body, the vaccine releases the mRNA to program the cell to produce the spike proteins like those on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus. Our immune system recognizes those vaccine-created spike proteins as invaders and creates antibodies to block future attacks from the virus.
Messenger RNA vaccines contain only a fraction of the virus, so unlike some vaccines, they can't give people the disease they're trying to prevent or trigger allergies to eggs or other traditional vaccine ingredients.
What does defunding mRNA technology mean?
The most obvious consequence of defunding mRNA vaccine development is losing resources to continue improving the technology for vaccines that target infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and the bird flu, and cancers, said Jeff Coller, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of RNA biology and therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University.
However, he also said it sends a “chilling” message to vaccine companies about continuing this type of research in the United States. While they may be able to afford research without federal help, companies could be hesitant to pursue mRNA technology if there’s a chance the Food and Drug Administration may not approve their vaccines.
This could lead companies to move operations and marketing to other countries, which would not only make these therapies more expensive in the United States, but also displace it as “the world leader in biotechnology,” Coller said.
“The rest of the world is doubling down on mRNA medicines. It’s a fact, and the U.S. is going to lose the race,” Coller told Paste BN on August 6. “The decision coming from Kennedy is essentially destroying our dominance in the biotech space.”
Contributing: Adrianna Rodriguez and Eduardo CuevasMelina Khan is a national trending reporter for Paste BN. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.