Senate Democrats Press Kennedy for Transparency on Bird Flu Vaccine Contract Cancellation

Warren and Duckworth accuse health secretary of undermining mRNA research, demand release of internal reviews behind terminated federal contracts

Photo of Bird Flu vaccine from Heute.at

Senate Democrats are demanding that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly release the internal reviews used to justify the Trump administration’s decision to cancel a $590 million bird flu vaccine contract awarded to Moderna earlier this year.

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The contract, originally signed in January by the Biden administration, had funded late-stage development of a human vaccine for H5N1 and secured the government’s right to purchase doses.

In a letter to Kennedy, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth criticized the move as “a grievous mistake” that could leave the U.S. vulnerable to a potential avian flu pandemic. They argued that canceling the program may not only endanger lives but also contribute to a projected 20% rise in egg prices. The senators further accused Kennedy of targeting vaccine programs as part of “an ill-informed and dangerous war on vaccines,” noting his history of spreading vaccine skepticism.

The Department of Health and Human Services said at the time that the contract was terminated following an internal review which found the program failed to meet necessary scientific or safety benchmarks. But Warren and Duckworth are demanding the release of that review, as well as another review cited in the department’s decision to defund a separate $258 million HIV vaccine project. The senators also requested a staff briefing and detailed explanation of the department’s decision-making process.

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Info sourced from Reuters