Trump Administration Cancels Bird Flu Vaccine Contract With Moderna

The New York Times (5/29, Mandavilli) reports the Trump Administration canceled a “nearly $600-million contract to the drugmaker Moderna that was intended to develop a shot for humans against bird flu.” The action was “not entirely unexpected,” as HHS “said earlier this year that it was reviewing the contract.” Additionally, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “has repeatedly questioned the safety of mRNA technology, which is used in Moderna’s Covid vaccine,” although experts have “said his views were out of step with the science.” Moderna previously “said it would explore alternatives for developing the vaccines covered by the contract, which were to be designed for several types of flu viruses that have the potential to cause a pandemic.” The decision also forfeited the Administration’s “right to purchase doses ahead of a pandemic, and canceled an agreement set up by the Biden administration in January to prepare the nation for a potential bird flu pandemic.”