WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump hailed as a “medical miracle” the mRNA vaccines developed to combat the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Now, his health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is effectively halting the vaccine technology’s advancement. Kennedy announced Tuesday that the federal government is canceling $500 million worth of mRNA research development contracts, putting an end to U.S.-backed hopes for the vaccine technology to prevent future pandemics, treat cancer or prevent flu infections.
It’s a sharp pivot from how Trump and top officials described the technology during his first term.
Here’s a look at what Trump and some of his closest advisers have said about mRNA vaccines that were credited with slowing the pandemic five years ago.
Robert Redfield, Trump’s director of the Centers for Disease Control