🧬 RFK Jr.’s dumb war on mRNA vaccines and America’s medical future
A terrible decision with perhaps more terrible decisions to come
My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers,
When a US presidential candidate wants to run a feel-good, big-picture campaign ad, they often include scenes from America’s greatest hits: Jesse Owens winning the 100-meter dash at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Patton’s Third Army rolling through Nazi-occupied France in 1944, and, of course, the July 1969 Moon landing.
Now, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s another American achievement that should be included in that national sizzle reel. Operation Warp Speed was, by any historical measure, a moonshot. Within a year of the discovery of a novel coronavirus, the US had deployed safe and effective mRNA vaccines at scale — an achievement arguably unmatched in public-private partnership since Apollo 11 touched down on the lunar surface. But five years later, that spirit of science-fueled ambition is unfortunately evaporating.
This week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the cancellation of 22 mRNA vaccine development projects totaling nearly $500 million. These initiatives were funded through BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. The agency plays a critical role in preparing for public health emergencies by supporting the development of cutting-edge medical countermeasures.
The move follows an earlier decision to revoke a $600 million contract for Moderna’s bird flu vaccine. While mRNA research at the NIH remains untouched for now, the message seems clear: Washington is stepping back from what many scientists consider the most promising platform in modern biotechnology.
Kennedy’s rationale is rooted in a scientifically discredited claim: that mRNA vaccines don’t work well against upper respiratory infections. That assertion flies in the face of clinical data and global experience. COVID-19 vaccines based on mRNA technology saved millions of lives, won a Nobel Prize, and laid the foundation for what may be a new class of cancer treatments. In trials this year, mRNA cancer vaccines have shown the ability to eliminate tumors in mice, and even keep pancreatic cancer at bay in humans. To sideline this work now isn’t just poor judgment. It’s anti-science and inhumane.
Again, the decision so far affects only BARDA-funded programs, not NIH grants. But that firewall may not hold. Researchers have already been informally advised to omit references to mRNA in NIH grant applications. Moreover, the agency is also quietly cataloging mRNA-linked projects, perhaps for possible cancellation. The chilling effect is real. Scientists are pulling back. Some are even preparing to leave the country to continue their work abroad, where such research is moving full-speed ahead.
In that sense, the greater danger isn’t just the money and markets lost. What a terrible signal to send. At a time when the US should be doubling (tripling/quadrupling?) down on biotech innovation, it’s stepping back. China, meanwhile, continues to pour money into synthetic biology, mRNA platforms, and genomic medicine. For a nation that once led the biotech frontier, the reversal is striking and strategically self-defeating.
In The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised, I argue that mRNA vaccine development is a clear case study in how the American system of innovation — rooted in private-sector dynamism, federal R&D investment, and regulatory flexibility — can solve massive challenges. Yet the political climate is now so infected by vaccine skepticism and scientific cynicism that the very technologies that saved lives are being defunded and defamed.
Worse still, this policy shift recasts the memory of Operation Warp Speed in shadow. Once a shining example of bipartisan, high-stakes collaboration, it now risks becoming a footnote in a story of retreat. Just as Apollo symbolized what America could do in the 20th century, Warp Speed should have been a launchpad for the 21st. Instead, the country seems intent on mothballing the biotechnological rocket just as it set aside manned exploration of space.
A nation that retreats from science doesn’t just lose Nobel Prizes — it loses lives, markets, and its claim to lead the future. What a terrible step in the wrong direction.
As Congress Does Less, The Courts Are Doing More
Breaking news: The Dispatch has acquired SCOTUSblog, the gold standard in Supreme Court analysis.
Reliable coverage of the Supreme Court has never been more important. With an unbridled executive branch and a Congress eager to surrender its constitutional prerogatives, the federal judiciary is playing an increasingly important role in shaping the country’s direction.
Join 600,000 loyal readers and check out The Dispatch today. No insulting clickbait, no false outrage, no annoying auto-play videos—just reliable journalism that helps you understand the big decisions that will shape our nation’s future.
Faster, Please! readers: Take 25% off a Dispatch membership today
Micro Reads
▶ Economics
▶ Business
▶ Policy/Politics
Trump’s Science Reform Veers off Course - WSJ Opinion
Trade Deal ‘Losers’ Have Economics on Their Side - Bberg Opinion
China’s Z.ai and America’s Self-Defeating AI Strategy - WSJ Opinion
▶ AI/Digital
Why tech is racing to adopt AI coding - The Verge
▶ Biotech/Health
▶ Clean Energy/Climate
The Earth is Drying Out and We Need to Act Urgently - Bberg Opinion
▶ Space/Transportation
Mark Kelly: My Fix for NASA - NYT Opinion
▶ Up Wing/Down Wing
The rewards of ruin - Aeon
▶ Substacks/Newsletters
Keeping AI agents under control doesn't seem very hard - Understanding AI
What can India do to industrialize? - Noahpinion
What can we learn from AI Interface Natives? - AI Supremacy
AI Options, not ‘Optimism‘ - AI Prospects
Outline of AI for Self Improving Science and AI - next BIG future
This is disappointing. Sure, new vax technology is risky--what isn't? But the upside potential of mRNA is amazing--from universal flu shots that cover 99%+ of flu strains known to man, to bespoke cancer cures, and on and on.
Sure, maybe the COVID shot wasn't a good risk-reward for everyone. Hindsight is 20/20 and if I had it, I'd go back and buy Apple when Michael Dell said they should wind down the company and give the cash back to the shareholders. I've gotten it every year, due to my comorbidities. But let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.
Really disappointing down wing news. How in the world we managed to put these nut jobs into positions of authority is beyond me. Beyond the voters, I mainly blame the cowardly members of the senate who new these kinds of stupid decisions would be the result but went along with it anyway.