The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced the cut of roughly $500 million worth of contracts for mRNA research and vaccine development for emerging pathogens. It comes after the agency also canceled $600 million for similar vaccine development against bird flu. The moves set off a series of warnings from infectious disease scientists, who argue the mRNA techniques – which were used for COVID-19 vaccines – better position public health for such threats. In the Aug. 5 announcement of plans to terminate 22 vaccine development contracts, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his agency’s review concluded the use of mRNA “poses more risk than benefits” and he wants to instead focus on “safer, broader” vaccine strategies. “Most of these shots are for flu or COVID,” said Kennedy in the video. “But as the pandemic showed us, mRNA vaccines don’t perform well against viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract. Here’s the problem: mRNA only codes for a...