Overview

• HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. terminated a nearly $600 million contract with Moderna in May, ending federal support for development of an mRNA-based H5N1 vaccine.
• The department cited unresolved safety and testing questions around mRNA platforms despite the technology’s safety record of more than 13 billion doses administered worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Public health specialists note that approximately half of reported human H5N1 infections have been fatal and that the virus is now spreading among dairy herds, wildlife and farm workers.
• Existing H5N1 vaccines use slower egg-based production methods that may not match emerging strains or be available quickly enough in a sudden outbreak.
• Researchers caution that the funding withdrawal weakens U.S. and global pandemic readiness and say other countries may move to fill the investment gap in mRNA bird flu vaccine research.