To many scientists and doctors, messenger RNA vaccines are an incredible feat of modern medicine. But to top health leaders in the Trump administration, shots made with the technology pose more risks than they do benefits.

Earlier this month, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed the Department of Health and Human Services to cancel some $500 million in contracts for research and development of mRNA vaccines, which are credited with helping control the COVID-19 pandemic.

The controversial move is a U-turn from the first Trump Administration, which created “Operation Warp Speed” to develop, manufacture and distribute COVID vaccines in record time, and in the process gave mRNA technology a starring role.

“To go from the identification of a pathogen to the development of an effica

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