Experts warn U.S. pandemic readiness at risk amid Trump administration’s move away from mRNA vaccines

Concerns are growing among public health experts that the United States is weakening its ability to respond to future pandemics, following significant policy shifts under Donald Trump’s second administration targeting mRNA vaccines.

Recently, the Trump administration canceled a $766 million contract with Moderna that supported the development of H5N1 bird flu vaccines, The Guardian of Saturday, June 14, 2025, reveals.

Additionally, new regulations and restrictions are being placed on COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

This signals a retreat from the innovative technology once hailed as a major scientific breakthrough during the pandemic.

These developments coincide with a broader restructuring in federal health agencies.

There have been resignations, terminations of vaccine officials, and the abrupt shutdown of HIV vaccine research.

On Monday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he was disbanding the CDC’s independent vaccine advisory panel.

This prompted further alarm in the medical community.

Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and vaccine expert at the University of Pennsylvania, warned that these actions are not limited to mRNA vaccines.

“All vaccines are potentially at risk,” he said, emphasizing that the administration appears intent on making vaccines harder to access and more feared by the public.

mRNA vaccine technology, which had been under development for decades, proved crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic and earned a Nobel Prize for its impact.

The technology was partly developed with U.S. government support and widely used worldwide, with continuous monitoring of its safety and effectiveness.

Beyond COVID-19, mRNA platforms hold potential for vaccines and therapies targeting cancers, rare diseases, and emerging viruses.

According to Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, the adaptability of mRNA makes it vital for future pandemic preparedness.

“With mRNA, you can quickly design a vaccine tailored to a new virus,” she said.

Unlike traditional vaccines, mRNA vaccines don’t rely on egg incubation—a process that can be slow and susceptible to disruption during bird flu outbreaks.

In 2009, the U.S. faced vaccine shortages during the swine flu pandemic, and Nuzzo fears the country is now “on track to repeat those same mistakes.”

However, mRNA vaccines have been at the center of persistent misinformation campaigns.

False claims about fertility issues, genetic interference, and even bizarre conspiracies about microchips and 5G technology have circulated widely.

This is despite being thoroughly debunked by scientific research.

Prominent figures have contributed to this distrust. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines, has called COVID mRNA shots the “deadliest vaccine ever made”, a claim with no scientific basis.

Meghan McCain also recently promoted a supplement marketed as a “spike detox” for vaccinated individuals, though she later deleted the post.

Kennedy’s influence has grown in recent years, especially as anti-vaccine narratives entered mainstream discourse.

John Moore, an immunology professor at Weill Cornell, noted that skepticism about vaccines is centuries old, but COVID-19 dramatically intensified these sentiments.

Recent federal moves reflect this shifting attitude. The FDA announced that COVID-19 booster shots will be limited to older adults and those with specific health conditions.

They also plan to reintroduce placebo-controlled clinical trials and require additional safety warnings on mRNA vaccines, including myocarditis risks.

Although data supporting these changes have not been publicly released.

Meanwhile, the CDC has dropped its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and softened its guidance for children.

In the past year, COVID-19 led to 165,000 hospitalizations and 40,000 deaths in the U.S., including 6,700 hospitalizations and 152 deaths among children.

Vaccination rates for young children remain low—just 5% of those under five are vaccinated.

Offit noted that hospitalizations and deaths among children today are comparable to early pandemic levels and that research clearly supports the benefits of vaccinating pregnant people and children.

Despite these benefits, the FDA restricted Moderna’s new, more effective COVID vaccine to older adults and high-risk groups.

The administration has also revoked funding for Moderna’s bird flu vaccine development, which had reached phase 3 trials.

Experts say halting the project leaves the country exposed if a bird flu pandemic emerges.

mRNA research had been expanding beyond infectious disease, with Moderna developing vaccines for melanoma, lung cancer, norovirus, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and RSV.

These efforts may now face setbacks due to political opposition, staffing cuts, and loss of expert advisory panels.

Dr. Marty Makary, the FDA commissioner, stated, “We don’t want to see kids excluded from school over booster requirements,” even though no state mandates COVID vaccines for school attendance.

Offit warned that resistance to vaccine mandates is a broader strategy by anti-vaccine groups to unravel public health systems.

Kennedy has even claimed all vaccines are harmful. He recently launched a $50 million autism study, raising fears it could falsely link vaccines to autism, a myth long debunked.

If autism is added to the list of vaccine injury claims, it could destabilize the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and deter companies from manufacturing routine childhood vaccines.

Offit concluded, “Kennedy is an anti-vaccine activist, science denialist, and conspiracy theorist.

I expect his attacks on vaccines to continue, putting public health at risk.”

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook