Defunding mRNA vaccine research leaves us all more vulnerable to future health emergencies

Recently the US secretary of health and human services Robert F Kennedy Jr decided to terminate mRNA vaccine research projects worth $500m. 1 This decision demonstrates a wilful ignorance of the advantages that mRNA based vaccines will offer in expediting the availability of vaccines in the next pandemic and the potential new avenues they offer for preventing and treating diseases such as cancer and HIV. 2 3 To ensure this political decision doesn't leave the world more vulnerable to pandemics and disease threats, countries must step up to close the gaps created by the sudden withdrawal of US investment.