Secretary Brain Worms Kills Another $500 Million For Vaccine Research
In May, he killed $700 million in contracts for a vaccine to fight bird flu.
According to the CDC, between January 13, 2020, and May 11, 2023, 1.2 million people died from COVID-19 (not to mention all of the people who died because the emergency rooms were overcrowded). Had it not been for the quickly developed mRNA vaccines, not only would that number have been much higher, it is quite likely that the emergency state pandemic would have continued to this very day.
Also, the CDC has only confirmed nine deaths that were caused by a COVID vaccine, all of which were related to the non-mRNA Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Even VAERS, the notoriously unreliable database into which absolutely anyone can submit a vaccine adverse event even if there is no chance whatsoever that it’s related to the event, and even if it’s a gunshot wound, has only had 19,476 preliminary “reports” of deaths following COVID-19 vaccinations, out of the 672 million doses delivered.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) head Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after really considering “the science” and talking to “experts,” has decided to kill $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccines.
“We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted. BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu,” he wrote on X, demonstrating how very deeply he does not know what the fuck he is talking about. He added, “We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”
Here, see how long you can sit through this:
There’s never going to be a permanent flu vaccine, which is why you get a flu vaccine every year. It’s the same deal with COVID. RFK Jr. is, however, somehow under the impression that the vaccines actually cause the viruses to mutate, which they do not.
“As the pandemic showed us, mRNA vaccines don’t perform well against viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract,” he said in the video, falsely. He also claimed that a single mutation can render an mRNA vaccine totally worthless, which is also not true.
“Let me be absolutely clear, HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” Kennedy added, being a little cheeky about the fact that he doesn’t think any vaccines are safe and highlighting his belief that people who don’t want to get their kids vaccinated should be allowed to send them to school.
Later on Tuesday, Kennedy said that they wanted to invent a “universal vaccine” that mimics “natural immunity.”
“It could be effective — we believe it’s going to be effective ― against not only coronaviruses, but also flu,” he said, clearly attempting to manifest it into being. Of course, we already know that there are no vaccines RFK thinks are good, so it seems likely that if it were effective, he’d kill it immediately
By sheer coincidence, just this May, the HHS actually gave $500 million to work led by newly appointed NIH Deputy Director Matthew Memoli and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) acting director Jeffery Taubenberger meant to develop a universal vaccine as part of their “Generation Gold Standard” initiative — which many vaccine experts said was a very stupid thing to do.
Via Science.org:
Equally baffling to some vaccine researchers is the dearth of published evidence to support Taubenberger and Memoli’s project, which relies on inactivating viruses, a “platform” that first proved its worth in the 1940s with flu vaccines. “In some circumstances, the older technologies are safer and better,” says Stanley Plotkin, author of the seminal textbook Plotkin’s Vaccines and professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania. “What’s troubling is to have an announcement that this is a revolutionary technology that is going to change the world, and there’s nothing on which to base those statements.” When he saw the HHS announcement, “I thought, ‘Have I missed something in the literature?’” says Plotkin, who now consults for vaccine manufacturers. “Well, no, I haven’t.”
Plotkin adds that he finds HHS’s apparent special treatment of Taubenberger and Memoli’s universal vaccine work “appalling.”
Infectious disease physician Luciana Borio, the former acting chief scientist at the FDA, was puzzled by Generation Gold Standard’s “enamorment” of the inactivated virus approach. “A whole virus vaccine mimics the natural infection, and I think that what people forget is that the natural infection does not induce lasting protective responses for many diseases,” she told Science.org.
But hey! It’s natural, right? Everything that’s natural is good. Like arsenic.
One particular irony of all of this is that the only COVID vaccines found to have produced a serious (but extremely rare) side effect were the non-MRNA vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. Because of the very small risk of a clotting disorder called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) with these vaccines, experts recommended taking mRNA vaccines instead.
Another reason why mRNA vaccines have been such a godsend is that they take much less time to develop — which is quite helpful in emergencies, you know, like a pandemic. Given that we’re still in reasonable danger of a future bird flu pandemic, that is technology that could come in handy, so as to avoid another 1.2 million people dying.
Oh, and just in case you forgot, the HHS also killed a $700 million contract with Moderna to develop a bird flu vaccine.
Surely this will all end well. At the very least, we know that no matter how many people die of COVID or bird flu or measles, literally no one who supports RFK Jr. will be upset about it. They could easily watch another 1.2 million people die and not be the least bit bothered, because hey! At least they weren’t taking vaccines to prevent getting sick in the first place — and isn’t that what really matters?
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
No jokes about this.
This situation is bad. Kennedy is currently at the top of my list for worst cabinet secretary of my lifetime. Sadly, I have to use the word "currently" because it's subject to change. But ruining the advances we have made in science and medicine has to rank among the all-time self-inflicted disasters.
"Later on Tuesday, Kennedy said that they wanted to invent a “universal vaccine” that mimics “natural immunity.”
Clearly, this asshole has no clue how immunity works - and the idea of a "universal vaccine" is something out of poorly-written pulp science fiction.