WASHINGTON — House appropriators have snubbed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by including an amendment in their 2026 spending bill that specifically funds continued messenger RNA vaccine research, despite his effort to roll it back.
In August, Kennedy announced that the Center for Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of HHS, would no longer fund research related to mRNA vaccines, the technology used to develop Covid-19 shots. At the time, he said HHS would terminate 22 grants supporting development of mRNA vaccines, totaling nearly $500 million. He claimed the shots fail to protect people against respiratory illness, though studies dispute this.
In its amended spending package, passed Wednesday, the House Committee on Appropriations included $1.1 billion for “advanced research and development” at BARDA — “including of mRNA vaccines.” The legislation does not earmark a specific amount to be spent on mRNA vaccine research.
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