In justifying the government's termination of $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine projects, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. falsely claimed mRNA vaccines "fail to protect effectively" against COVID-19 and suggested they are unsafe.

This was one in a continuing line of moves that have put Kennedy's vaccine skepticism into public policy, though scientists say the vaccines are safe.

The targeting of the vaccine technology once considered revolutionary follows intense criticism by conservatives and anti-vaccine activists.