The federal government’s decision to slash $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine research has sparked concern among health experts.

“The news that we’re going to block a Nobel prize-winning technology, mRNA technology for the purposes of vaccine, is quite disheartening to the entire biomedical and health care community,” said Dr. Larry Schlesinger, the president and CEO of Texas Biomedical Research Institute on San Antonio’s west side.

Earlier this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the secretary of Health and Human Services, said the federal government will cut $500 million in funding for vaccine research using mRNA technology in COVID-19 and flu vaccines.

>> What to know about mRNA vaccines

Schlesinger believes cutting millions of dollars in funding for research on vaccines, specifically

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