RFK Jr continues his attack on mRNA vaccines

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has claimed that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is ending contracts for mRNA vaccine development, citing concerns that the technology may pose “more risks than benefits.” According to Kennedy Jr., HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) reviewed 22 mRNA vaccine projects — most focused on flu and COVID — and began canceling them.

He argued that mRNA vaccines only code for a small portion of viral proteins, usually a single antigen. This makes them vulnerable to mutations, which can render the vaccine less effective. Kennedy Jr. pointed to the Omicron variant as an example, noting that millions contracted it despite vaccination. He further warned that this dynamic could drive antigenic shift, encouraging new mutations and potentially prolonging pandemics.

Look, the point of the COVID vaccine is to keep you out of the ED and the morgue. Nobody said it *prevents* infection. Yes, viruses evolve. Some, like flu virus and SARS-CoV-2, evolve rapidly. But having a vaccinated population *slows* the rate of evolution by shrinking the viral pool.

The correct response is (a) to vaccinate everyone and (b) to fund additional mRNA vaccines to better protect from new variants. Defunding mRNA vaccine research doesn’t help anyone.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yes, the CDC can change its mind

The Nobel Laureate economist Paul Samuelson famously acknowledged in a Meet the Press interview: “Well when events change, I change my mind. What do you do?” This observation applies to the advice from medical authorities such as the CDC and WHO during the COVID pandemic. Some members of the public are fond of pillorying these agencies for having published different guidelines at different times, as though health officials are in the business of issuing ex cathedra dogma rather than responding to incomplete and ambiguous information. Science doesn’t deal in proof, it deals with the weight of evidence. A scientific hypothesis is one that is capable of being tested and falsified by experiment. I get it. I used to teach problem-based learning to first year medical students, and they often struggled with what to do with incomplete and ambiguous information, which is what physicians in clinics do every day. Sometimes, one cannot wait for all the tests to be completed and all the data analyz...
Read more

I agree with RFK Jr.

Though it feels weird to say it, RFK Jr and I agree on something: curtailing direct-to-consumer marketing of pharmaceuticals. “ The Trump administration is discussing policies that would make it harder and more expensive for pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to patients, in a move that could disrupt more than $10 billion in annual ad spending.   Although the US is the only place, besides New Zealand, where pharma companies can directly advertise, banning pharma ads outright could make the administration vulnerable to lawsuits, so it’s instead focusing on cutting down on the practice by adding legal and financial hurdles, according to people familiar with the plans who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.   “The two policies the administration has focused in on would be to require greater disclosures of side effects of a drug within each ad — likely making broadcast ads much longer and prohibitively expensive — or removing the industry’s ability to d...
Read more

About that Trump lawsuit

So Trump is suing Rupert Murdoch for defamation because of the release of a salacious doodle. Nothing remarkable about Donald J. Trump weaponizing the legal system against his opponents, I know. But there are some things that do bear remark here: “ . . . he's suing Rupert Murdoch personally. But you know who he's not suing? Lachlan Murdoch, who's actually the chairperson of News Corp and Fox, who's actually the decision-maker. Rupert Murdoch has no official role there anymore. He's an adviser.   “So, I thought that was revealing in a lot of ways, because it isn't just about going after the entity. It's sort of this expansion spillover, trying to send as much of a message as you possibly can. He's sort of hitting every potential lever, not just against Murdoch and that empire, but then all the other media properties in the future. It's also about sending an example.” “HAYES: Yeah. That, to me, is the point here, is that these lawsuits are not lawsuits...
Read more