Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans on Wednesday to cancel $500 million in federal contracts for vaccine research, including research for COVID-19, H5N1 Bird Flu, and seasonal flu vaccines. In total, 22 projects to develop mRNA vaccines will be shut down.

"To replace the troubled mRNA programs, we’re prioritizing the development of safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms that don’t collapse when viruses mutate," RFK Jr. said in a video posted to his social media accounts.

The technology used in mRNA vaccines has been in development since the 1970's. The messenger RNA trains white blood cells to attack the virus without introducing a live pathogen or dead viral strains, as is utilized in other vaccines. Infecti

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