US cut in mRNA vaccine investment is a 'severe blow,' says WHO

Donald Trump's decision to end 22 contracts that funded the development of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines represents "a severe blow" to an "extremely promising technology", the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday (7).

“This is obviously a heavy blow,” said Joachim Hombach, executive secretary of the WHO’s strategic advisory group of experts on vaccination, during a press conference on Thursday.

"The mRNA vaccine is a very important technology that has been extremely useful in combating Covid," the official added, noting that this type of vaccine "can be adapted very quickly."

The US Department of Health's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) on Tuesday ended "22 investments in the development of mRNA vaccines because data show that these vaccines do not effectively protect against upper respiratory infections, such as Covid-19 and influenza," said US Secretary of Health Robert Kennedy Jr.

While traditional vaccines typically use weakened or inactivated forms of the virus or bacteria in question, mRNA vaccines transmit genetic instructions to the vaccinated individual's cells and prompt them to produce a harmless version of the pathogen, training the immune system to fight the real virus.

"This is an unfortunate and untimely decision, but we are confident that research efforts will continue as this is an extremely promising technology," Hombach added.

Shortly after his inauguration in January, Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the WHO, an organization he had repeatedly criticized for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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