FACT FOCUS: RFK Jr.'s reasons for cutting mRNA vaccine not supported by
evidence
[August 07, 2025]
By MELISSA GOLDIN
Although mRNA vaccines saved millions of lives during the COVID-19
pandemic, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. incorrectly argued
they are ineffective to justify the Department of Health and Human
Service's recent decision to cancel $500 million in government-funded
research projects to develop new vaccines using the technology.
The longtime vaccine critic said in an X video posted Tuesday evening
that mRNA vaccines do not adequately prevent upper respiratory
infections such as COVID-19 and the flu, advocating instead for the
development vaccines that use other processes.
COVID-19 is the only virus for which real-world data on mRNA vaccine
effectiveness is currently available, as mRNA vaccines for other
diseases, including the flu, are still under development. The two
scientists whose discoveries enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines
against COVID-19 won a Nobel Prize in 2023 for their work.
Kennedy's claim ignores how mRNA vaccines work, according to experts.
They prevent against severe infection and death, but cannot completely
prevent an infection from occurring in the first place. Plus, years of
research supports the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines that use mRNA
technology.
Here's a closer look at the facts.
KENNEDY: “As the pandemic showed us, mRNA vaccines don't perform well
against viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract.”
THE FACTS: His claim is contradicted by scientific evidence. Countless
studies show that vaccinated individuals fare far better against
COVID-19 infections than those who are unvaccinated, while others have
estimated that COVID-19 vaccines prevented millions of deaths during the
global pandemic. The mRNA vaccines do not prevent respiratory diseases
entirely, experts say. Rather, they can prevent more serious illness
that leads to complications and death. For example, an mRNA vaccine
against COVID-19 may prevent an infection in the upper respiratory tract
that feels like a bad cold from spreading to the lower respiratory
tract, where it could affect one's ability to breathe.
“A vaccine cannot block a respiratory infection,” said Dr. Jake Scott,
an infectious diseases physician and clinical associate professor at
Stanford University School of Medicine. “That's never been the standard
for a respiratory virus vaccine. And it's never been the expectation,
and it's never been that realistic.” He called Kennedy's claim
“misguided.”
Jeff Coller, a professor of RNA biology and therapeutics at Johns
Hopkins University, had a similar outlook.
“Vaccinations don't have to be neutralizing, meaning that you're not
going to get COVID,” he said. “But the important part of a vaccination
is that they reduce hospitalization and death. And a reduction in
hospitalization and death is proof of an effective vaccine.”
HHS officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vaccines have traditionally required growing viruses or pieces of
viruses called proteins and then purifying them. Then a small dose of
the vaccine is injected to train the body how to recognize when a real
infection hits so it’s ready to fight back. But this method takes a long
time. The mRNA technology speeds up the process and allows existing
vaccines to be updated more quickly.
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks
during an event where President Donald Trump will sign an executive
order restarting the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools,
Thursday, July 31, 2025, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in
Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
 The “m” in mRNA stands for messenger
because the vaccine carries instructions for our bodies to make
proteins. Scientists figured out how to harness that natural process
for vaccines by making mRNA in a lab. They take a snippet of the
genetic code that carries instructions for making the protein they
want the vaccine to target. Injecting that snippet instructs the
body to become its own mini-vaccine factory, making enough copies of
the protein for the immune system to recognize and react.
Scott explained that mRNA vaccines are not a “magic force field”
that the immune system can use to block an infection, as it can't
detect whether a virus is nearby. It can only respond to a virus
that has already entered the body. In the case of COVID-19, this
means that the virus could cause an upper respiratory tract
infection — a cold, essentially — but would be significantly less
likely to cause more severe consequences elsewhere.
Myriad studies on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines have been
published since they first became available in late 2020. Although
protection does wane over time, they provide the strongest barrier
against severe infection and death.
For example, a 2024 study by the World Health Organization found
COVID-19 vaccines reduced deaths in the WHO’s European region by at
least 57%, saving more than 1.4 million lives since their
introduction in December 2020.
A 2022 study published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases
found that nearly 20 million lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines
during their first year. Researchers used data from 185 countries to
estimate that vaccines prevented 4.2 million COVID-19 deaths in
India, 1.9 million in the United States, 1 million in Brazil,
631,000 in France and 507,000 in the United Kingdom. The main
finding — that 19.8 million COVID-19 deaths were prevented — is
based on estimates of how many more deaths than usual occurred
during the time period. Using only reported COVID-19 deaths, the
same model yielded 14.4 million deaths averted by vaccines.
Another 2022 study, published in The New England Journal of
Medicine, reported that two mRNA vaccines were more than 90%
effective against COVID-19.
Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to facilitate the
development and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, began under the
first Trump administration.
“What I don't understand is why is President Trump is allowing RFK
Jr. to undermine his legacy that led to a medical intervention that
literally saved millions of lives?” Coller said. “Why is Trump
allowing RFK to undermine U.S. leadership in biomedical research and
drug development?”
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