Today’s mRNA Pocket Rescission Will Be Tomorrow’s Death Count
QUICK READ: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. cut $500 million in mRNA vaccine development this week, claiming falsely that mRNA vaccines don’t perform. The scientific community disputes Kennedy’s claim emphatically and warns his action will stifle our ability to respond quickly to both future pandemics and public health emergencies, thereby putting millions of lives at risk.
CONTENTS:
BACKGROUND
HHS Secretary RFK, Jr. just eliminated $500 million in mRNA vaccine development funds, claiming falsely that mRNA vaccines “don’t perform well against viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract.” The scientific community here and abroad overwhelmingly disputes this, warning instead that it stifles our nation’s ability to respond rapidly to future pandemics and public health emergencies and puts millions of lives at risk.
Medical professionals expressed “shock and horror” at Kennedy’s decision:
"I don't think I've seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business," stated Mike Osterholm, a Minnesota epidemiologist.
Neil Stone, a UK infectious diseases doctor, calls Kennedy a "dangerous anti-vaccine fanatic….[who] is systematically turning the USA from the leader in science to an ideologically anti-scientific backwater of quackery and pseudoscience," from which it’ll take years to recover.
Alastair McAlpine, a pediatric infectious diseases physician, termed Kennedy's shutting down of mRNA research "insanity," adding that "never has America been more vulnerable."
And, Pete Buttigieg bemoans Congress putting “a quack, who doesn’t believe in medicine” in charge of American public health.
Kennedy’s long spread vaccine misinformation and made unscientifically grounded accusations, comparing the CDC to Nazi death camps and asserting that COVID-19, to which Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people were immune, was a “bioweapon” made by China to target Caucasians and Black people.
Medical organizations, physicians, and medical students have expressed alarm en masse, because sustained research funding is essential to creating the next generation of resources to protect ourselves from infectious diseases.
ACTION One: Call the Senate.
Script for Oregon Senators
SEN. MERKLEY: Portland office: 503-326-3386 | D.C. office: 202-224-3753
My name is [--] and I'm a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
The mRNA vaccine is credited with saving more than 3 million lives in the US, and researchers are using the same technology to build vaccines for HIV, dengue, influenza, and even cancer–for which reason alone its NIH funding must be protected. Kennedy’s elimination of $500 million in research funding is an illegal pocket rescission based on politics, not science, which I expect you to do everything in your power to stop by (1) holding hearings exposing his quackery, his use of an illegal budgetary maneuver, and how his actions harm real people; (2) sue the Trump administration for its refusal to spend appropriated funds; (3) impeach the HHS Secretary, (4) educate Americans about these harms and the government’s misuse of their taxes.
SEN. WYDEN:
Portland office: 503-326-7525 | D.C. office: 202-224-5244
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
The mRNA vaccine is credited with saving more than 3 million lives in the US, and researchers are using the same technology to build vaccines for HIV, dengue, influenza, and even cancer–for which reason alone its NIH funding must be protected. Kennedy’s elimination of $500 million in research funding is an illegal pocket rescission based on politics, not science, which I expect you to do everything in your power to stop by (1) holding hearings exposing his quackery, his use of an illegal budgetary maneuver, and how his actions harm real people; (2) sue the Trump administration for its refusal to spend appropriated funds; (3) impeach the HHS Secretary, (4) educate Americans about these harms and the government’s misuse of their taxes.
Script for Republican Senators
D.C switchboard: 202-224-3121
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], [state], [zip code].
The mRNA vaccine is credited with saving more than 3 million lives in the US, and researchers are using the same technology to build vaccines for HIV, dengue, influenza, and even cancer–for which reason alone its NIH funding must be protected. Kennedy’s elimination of $500 million in research funding is an illegal pocket rescission based on politics, not science, which I expect you to do everything in your power to stop by (1) holding hearings exposing his quackery, his use of an illegal budgetary maneuver, and how his actions harm real people; (2) sue the Trump administration for its refusal to spend appropriated funds; (3) impeach the HHS Secretary, (4) educate Americans about these harms and the government’s misuse of their taxes.
ACTION TWO: Call the House.
Script for Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
Oregon office: 503-469-6010 | DC office: 202-225-0855
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
The mRNA vaccine is credited with saving more than 3 million lives in the US, and researchers are using the same technology to build vaccines for HIV, dengue, influenza, and even cancer–for which reason alone its NIH funding must be protected. Kennedy’s elimination of $500 million in research funding is an illegal pocket rescission based on politics, not science, which I expect you to do everything in your power to stop by (1) holding hearings exposing his quackery, his use of an illegal budgetary maneuver, and how his actions harm real people; (2) sue the Trump administration for its refusal to spend appropriated funds; (3) impeach the HHS Secretary, (4) educate Americans about these harms and the government’s misuse of their taxes.
Script for Cliff Bentz (OR-02)
Medford office: 541-776-4646 | DC office: 202-225-6730
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
The mRNA vaccine is credited with saving more than 3 million lives in the US, and researchers are using the same technology to build vaccines for HIV, dengue, influenza, and even cancer–for which reason alone its NIH funding must be protected. Kennedy’s elimination of $500 million in research funding is an illegal pocket rescission based on politics, not science, which I expect you to do everything in your power to stop by (1) holding hearings exposing his quackery, his use of an illegal budgetary maneuver, and how his actions harm real people; (2) sue the Trump administration for its refusal to spend appropriated funds; (3) impeach the HHS Secretary, (4) educate Americans about these harms and the government’s misuse of their taxes.
Script for Maxine Dexter (OR-03)
Oregon office: 503-231-2300 | DC office: 202-225-4811
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
The mRNA vaccine is credited with saving more than 3 million lives in the US, and researchers are using the same technology to build vaccines for HIV, dengue, influenza, and even cancer–for which reason alone its NIH funding must be protected. Kennedy’s elimination of $500 million in research funding is an illegal pocket rescission based on politics, not science, which I expect you to do everything in your power to stop by (1) holding hearings exposing his quackery, his use of an illegal budgetary maneuver, and how his actions harm real people; (2) sue the Trump administration for its refusal to spend appropriated funds; (3) impeach the HHS Secretary, (4) educate Americans about these harms and the government’s misuse of their taxes.
Script for Val Hoyle (OR-04)
Eugene office: 541-465-6732 | DC office: 202-225-6416
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
The mRNA vaccine is credited with saving more than 3 million lives in the US, and researchers are using the same technology to build vaccines for HIV, dengue, influenza, and even cancer–for which reason alone its NIH funding must be protected. Kennedy’s elimination of $500 million in research funding is an illegal pocket rescission based on politics, not science, which I expect you to do everything in your power to stop by (1) holding hearings exposing his quackery, his use of an illegal budgetary maneuver, and how his actions harm real people; (2) sue the Trump administration for its refusal to spend appropriated funds; (3) impeach the HHS Secretary, (4) educate Americans about these harms and the government’s misuse of their taxes.
Script for Janelle Bynum (OR-05)
DC office: 202-225-5711
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
The mRNA vaccine is credited with saving more than 3 million lives in the US, and researchers are using the same technology to build vaccines for HIV, dengue, influenza, and even cancer–for which reason alone its NIH funding must be protected. Kennedy’s elimination of $500 million in research funding is an illegal pocket rescission based on politics, not science, which I expect you to do everything in your power to stop by (1) holding hearings exposing his quackery, his use of an illegal budgetary maneuver, and how his actions harm real people; (2) sue the Trump administration for its refusal to spend appropriated funds; (3) impeach the HHS Secretary, (4) educate Americans about these harms and the government’s misuse of their taxes.
Script for Andrea Salinas (OR-06)
Salem office: 503-385-0906 | DC office: 202-225-5643
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
The mRNA vaccine is credited with saving more than 3 million lives in the US, and researchers are using the same technology to build vaccines for HIV, dengue, influenza, and even cancer–for which reason alone its NIH funding must be protected. Kennedy’s elimination of $500 million in research funding is an illegal pocket rescission based on politics, not science, which I expect you to do everything in your power to stop by (1) holding hearings exposing his quackery, his use of an illegal budgetary maneuver, and how his actions harm real people; (2) sue the Trump administration for its refusal to spend appropriated funds; (3) impeach the HHS Secretary, (4) educate Americans about these harms and the government’s misuse of their taxes.
