Dr. Peter Hotez said he’s concerned about pulling funding for research. Kennedy said the money will be used for other vaccine platforms.
HOUSTON — A prominent Houston vaccine doctor is reacting to an announcement about half a billion dollars being pulled from mRNA vaccine research.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy made the announcement on social media, saying the technology used to create those vaccines is too risky.
We spoke with Dr. Peter Hotez, who leads the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital. He argues mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna proved highly effective during the COVID pandemic.
“Some estimates indicate that the two mRNA vaccines used in the COVID pandemic saved 3.2 million American lives, so instead of 1.2 million Americans dying from COVID, it would have been 4.4 million,” he said. “I’m very concerned that he’s decided to kind of take that technology off the table when we know it’s proven to be effective and highly safe.”
Dr. Hotez says there’s also new research showing mRNA vaccines are a promising technology to fight cancer. Kennedy says mRNA funding will shift toward other vaccine platforms that he says have stronger safety records.