National Institutes of Health officials reportedly told scientists to erase mRNA vaccine references on grants

Officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have reportedly told scientists to scrub all references to mRNA vaccine technology from grant applications, sparking fears that the agency could soon scrap research programs into the vaccinations under Health and Human Services Commissioner Robert F Kennedy Jr.

One vaccine scientist based in New York funded by the agency was warned that references to mRNA vaccines should not appear in any future applications after referring to them in previous ones. “There will not be any research funded by NIH on mRNA vaccines,” the scientist added.

The technology was deployed in the development of Covid vaccines, which President Donald Trump boasted about during his first term in his Operation Warp Speed vaccine summit. It has been credited with saving some 3 million lives.

The mRNA vaccine technology is currently being studied at the NIH, which falls under the domain of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for the prevention and treatment of other infectious diseases, such as flu and AIDs. It’s also part of research in the fight against cancer.

But now scientists are concerned that under Kennedy the agency will move away from the life-saving research, reports to KFF Health News.

One scientist at a biomedical research center in Philadelphia wrote to a colleague that a project officer at the agency had “flagged our pending grant as having an mRNA vaccine component,” the email seen by the outlet said. “It’s still unclear whether mRNA vaccine grants will be canceled,” the scientist reportedly added.

“Kennedy’s war on vaccines has started,” the scientist added in the message to his colleague, noted KFF Health News.

open image in gallery

Kennedy’s office and the White House will also be informed about any grants, contracts or collaborations involving mRNA vaccines, according to a memo from the agency’s acting director, Matthew Memoli.

Memoli said in another message that the agency was “no longer interested in learning why people shun vaccines” or in exploring “ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment,” KFF reported.

“MAGA people are convinced that these vaccines have killed and maimed tens of thousands of people. It’s not true, but they believe that,” the vaccine scientist in New York told the outlet.

An official at the National Cancer Institute told KFF that “it is reasonable to assume mRNA vaccine work is next,” referring to cancellation of research.

The Independent has contacted the agency for comment.

open image in gallery

Public health agencies have canceled vaccine meetings and research since Kennedy took up the post under Trump.

During his first address to thousands of workers at the federal public health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the Food and Drug Administration, Kennedy promised to “investigate” the childhood vaccine schedule.

Just days later, the CDC canceled a public meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Panel, a group of doctors and scientists who make recommendations on vaccines. That meeting has not been rescheduled, the Associated Press has reported.

Another canceled public meeting of vaccine advisers who make recommendations on the flu vaccine every year for the Food and Drug Administration has has not been rescheduled.

The CDC, meanwhile, is preparing to research an unproven link Kennedy has often raised between autism and vaccines, planning to “leave no stone unturned in its mission to figure out what exactly is happening,” HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement to AP.

Numerous studies have concluded that there is no link between the two, a fact the agency even states on its website.

During his Senate confirmation hearings earlier this year, Kennedy repeatedly rejected any notion that he would undermine vaccines.