Trump Administration Cancels Contract For Bird Flu Vaccine As Cases Surge & Virus Mutates

On May 28, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) canceled a $590 million contract to Moderna, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. The funding was awarded to the company in January and was intended to be used for developing a vaccine against H5 avian influenza (bird flu).

Bird flu originally targeted only avian animals, typically killing both wild birds and domesticated ones. However, it has spread to both land and sea mammals. While the flu doesn’t appear to be easily transmitted to people, scientists are concerned about the potential for a bird flu pandemic shortly due to the ability of viruses to mutate and change their properties.

Moderna had been awarded a contract worth $176 million in July 2024, under the Biden administration, due to an increase in bird flu infections among humans. In January, before the end of former President Joe Biden’s term in office, officials announced another contract, this time worth $590 million, to build upon the previous award and potentially find vaccines against pandemic flu diseases.

With President Donald Trump and his administration taking over, the DHS decided to cancel the contract.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had consistently questioned the safety of mRNA technology, which Moderna implemented in its COVID-19 vaccine.

Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon stated that the department had decided that investing in Moderna and its mRNA technology was not in the best interest of the department, considering the science and ethics behind the technology.

Moderna spokesperson Christopher Ridley had defended the technology, citing the results of the COVID-19 vaccine, which have given many people immunity against the disease.

mRNA technology, once introduced into the body via vaccines, instructs the body to produce a copy of part of the virus, allowing the immune system to respond and resist the disease when encountered.

Kennedy has suggested an alternative approach for containing the virus. He has proposed allowing the virus to infect a flock of birds, rather than identifying the bird responsible for the virus’s origin and then studying the immunity of birds that survive the virus. Many scientists have pointed out that this would be inhumane toward the birds and presents a danger to anyone within range of the virus, potentially leading to a pandemic.

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Article by Sherry Chen

Sherry Chen is a uPolitics writer.