US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited false claims to justify terminating 22 federal contracts for mRNA-based vaccines, researchers said Friday, a day after the World Health Organization called the decision a major blow.

Kennedy on Tuesday announced the cancellation of contracts worth around $500 million, marking his latest attempt to infuse vaccine skepticism into the core of US health policy.

Citing medical experts, disinformation watchdog NewsGuard identified a series of false claims about the vaccines –- credited with saving millions of lives during the Covid-19 pandemic -- that Kennedy promoted to explain the termination.

Kennedy claimed that mRNA vaccines were responsible for "new mutations" of the virus, thus creating new variants that can prolong pandemics.

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