1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to reinstate the $500 million in research funding for mRNA vaccine development that was recently revoked by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This decision is not only scientifically unsound, it’s deeply irresponsible. mRNA vaccines saved millions of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, a 2022 study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases found that nearly 20 million lives were saved globally in the first year alone. In the U.S., that number was estimated at nearly 2 million. These vaccines were a triumph of American scientific leadership — one that earned a Nobel Prize in 2023. Secretary Kennedy’s claim that mRNA vaccines are ineffective against upper respiratory infections blatantly ignores expert consensus and decades of immunological science. As Stanford’s Dr. Jake Scott explained, “A vaccine cannot block a respiratory infection… that’s never been the expectation.” Instead, mRNA vaccines do exactly what they are designed to do: prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death. This technology is faster to develop, easier to update, and holds promise not just for COVID-19, but for flu, RSV, and future emerging diseases. Halting funding now doesn’t just delay progress — it endangers it. At a time when we should be leading the world in next-generation vaccine development, this move undercuts U.S. innovation and ignores the scientific community’s overwhelming evidence. Please stand up for science, public health, and American leadership in biomedical research. Reinstate this critical funding.