"The Department of Health and Human Services had canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in funding previously committed to help develop mRNA vaccines."
"Moderna is launching a large-scale clinical trial of a shot to combat bird flu in humans after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s department had canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in funding previously committed to aid in vaccine development.
The company is developing the vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA), which is the technology used in the most commonly administered coronavirus vaccines and was hailed during President Donald Trump’s first term as a major medical achievement. It has since come under intense scrutiny from Kennedy and other conservatives, and the Department of Health and Human Services last year announced a winding down of investments in 22 mRNA vaccine development projects.
Last May, HHS pulled millions of dollars that President Joe Biden’s administration had said it would provide to Moderna to accelerate mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines amid an outbreak of bird flu in dairy cattle. The move delayed a large-scale clinical trial for several months as Moderna sought alternative funding sources, according to Chris Ridley, a Moderna spokesman.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a global partnership to speed up the development of vaccines and other countermeasures, is investing up to $54.3 million to support the bird flu vaccine. On Tuesday, Moderna said the first participants in the large-scale clinical trial have received the vaccine in both the United States and Britain."
Rachel Roubein reports for the Washington Post April 21, 2026.
