SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

The Trump administration's decision to cut $500 million in federal funding for new vaccine development has raised concerns among UC Davis health care administrators about the potential risks during future outbreaks.

The funding cuts affect research projects aimed at creating new mRNA vaccines for flu shots and certain cancers.

Dr. Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis, emphasized the importance of mRNA vaccines, which were developed in record time and credited with saving millions of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The COVID vaccines saved millions of lives, and allowed us to really get out of lockdown by providing rapid development of immunity so that COVID is where it is today, which is very similar to influenza," Blumberg said. "

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