“I do believe that autism does come from vaccines,” claimed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a 2023 Fox News interview (Ducharme, 2025). Despite supporting ideas disproved by overwhelming evidence, including large-scale studies of millions of children, Kennedy Jr. became the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services two years later (LeGare, 2022; Ducharme 2025). Since his appointment, vaccine distrust has only deepened due to misinformation disseminated by political leaders and drastic federal funding cuts (Ungar et al., 2025). Most dramatically, Kennedy canceled nearly $500 million in mRNA vaccine contracts, calling vaccines made using the Nobel Prize-winning technology “the deadliest … ever made” (Mandavilli, 2025). Undeterred by officials dismantling vaccine research and denying evidence-based truths, scientists have persisted in addressing widespread public health concerns by developing breakthrough mRNA technologies.
In June, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania State University identified a new "trans-amplifying" mRNA vaccine platform which uses self-replicating RNA to amplify immune responses within the body (University of Pittsburg, 2025). This technology directly addresses many concerns that fuel vaccine hesitancy while offering an immediate example of the innovation Kennedy’s funding cuts eliminate. Unlike traditional mRNA vaccines used against COVID-19, which require high doses and frequent reformulation to address constant viral mutations, trans-amplifying vaccines use two molecular components that work in tandem. The first, an antigen sequence, provides instructions to the immune system to recognize and neutralize the virus. The second, a replicase sequence, acts as a biological amplifier. The replicase allows cells to generate more copies of the antigen so the vaccine requires up to forty times less mRNA than current vaccines. For skeptics worried about vaccine components and dosing, this highlights a dramatic reduction in what the body receives while maintaining effectiveness.
Just as important for countering Kennedy’s false claim that “a single mutation in a virus renders the vaccine ineffective,” this vaccine can be designed to quickly adapt to disease variants because only the antigen would need updating in response to a new threat (Mandavilli, 2025). To test this discovery, the team designed a “consensus spike protein” to target all known SARS-CoV-2 variants, raising the possibility of a universal coronavirus vaccine (Gontu et al., 2025). Unlike previous methods that targeted a single variant’s spike protein, the new method allows researchers to analyze the genetic sequences of multiple coronavirus strains to identify regions of the virus that remain unchanged across variants (id.). By targeting the parts of the virus that have remained constant through evolution, the consensus spike protein should recognize shared features among all existing coronavirus strains and more likely to recognize these features in future coronavirus strains, allowing a single vaccine to be effective for broad spectrum of coronaviruses. This protection offers meaningful advantages over current vaccines that must be reformulated for each new variant, demonstrating broad protection that contradicts Kennedy’s claims about mRNA limitations. “[It] has the potential for more lasting immunity that would not require updating,” said Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi, senior author of the study (University of Pittsburgh, 2025).
With the potential for broader protection and reduction in vaccine updates, these scientific advances offer the results-based outcomes required to maintain public trust in vaccination. Instead, President Trump’s administration is systematically destroying this research. Beyond canceling $500 million in mRNA contracts, the administration replaced CDC’s vaccine advisory committee with misinformation spreaders and revoked $766 million for Moderna’s mRNA bird flu vaccine (Stein, 2025; Mandavilli, 2025). They now favor century-old “whole-cell vaccines” abandoned in the 1990s for causing high fevers and seizures. With the implementation of technology Kennedy himself previously criticized, vaccination rates are falling in over 30 states (Hetter, 2025).
The implications of these policy priorities extend beyond health and into national security. As former Trump administration official Chris Meekins warned, ending mRNA research creates a “national security vulnerability” because these tools “serve as a deterrent to prevent other nations from using certain biological agents” (Mandavilli, 2025). As a result, scientists are watching decades of progress vanish. The administration’s reckless and ignorant acts require our immediate action. Congress must immediately restore vaccine research funding before breakthroughs like trans-amplifying mRNA vanish entirely. More importantly, we must take the anti-scientific policies proposed by our political leaders seriously and work to remove those that espouse pseudoscience in lieu of evidence-based science. We have to vote for candidates who prioritize scientific truth and understand that discouraging innovation and dismantling healthcare infrastructure destroys our ability to defend against health threats. When the next pandemic or biological agent arrives, we will either have the tools necessary to save millions of lives, or we will suffer the debilitating consequences of ideology. The choice remains ours, but the window for action is rapidly closing.
References
Ducharme, J. (2025, January 29). RFK Jr. denied he is anti-vaccine during his confirmation hearing: Here's his record. Time. https://time.com/7210943/rfk-confirmation-hearing-vaccines/
Gontu, A., Misra, S., Chothe, S. K., et al. (2025, June 3). Trans-amplifying mRNA vaccine expressing consensus spike elicits broad neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants. npj Vaccines, 10, 110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-025-01166-1
Hetter, K. (2025, July 9). Vaccine measles pertussis health wellness. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/09/health/vaccine-measles-pertussis-health-wellness
LeGare, J. (2022, March 24). Link between autism and vaccination debunked. Mayo Clinic Health System. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/autism-vaccine-link-debunked
Mandavilli, A. (2025, August 5). Kennedy cancels nearly $500 million in mRNA vaccine contracts. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/health/rfk-jr-vaccine-funding.html
Schreiber, M. (2025, June 14). US experts fear all vaccines at risk as Trump officials target mRNA jabs. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/14/mrna-vaccines-trump-rfk-jr
Stein, R. (2025, May 28). Trump administration cancels plans to develop a bird flu vaccine. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2025/05/28/nx-s1-5414642/trump-vaccine-bird-flu-mrna
Ungar, L., & Smith, M. R. (2025, May 31). Trump administration's deep cuts to public health leave system reeling. PBS NewsHour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/trump-administrations-deep-cuts-to-public-health-leave-system-reeling
University of Pittsburgh. (2025, June 3). New mRNA vaccine is more effective and less costly to develop. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/06/250603114825.htm
University of Pittsburgh. (2025, June 3). New mRNA vaccine is more effective and less costly to develop, study finds. Medical Xpress. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-mrna-vaccine-effective.html#google_vignette