“I’m going to ensure that there are science-based safety studies available, and people can make their own assessments about whether a vaccine is good for them.”
Kennedy noted in comments to Fox News Digital that “it is crucial” that the HHS support pandemic preparedness, “four years of the Biden administration’s failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production, including Vaxart’s.”
The trial is not terminated, according to the HHS.
Kennedy and other health officials will determine the next steps after reviewing their findings over the next 90 days.
As part of the Biden administration’s $4.7 billion Project NextGen program launched in 2023, the Vaxart vaccine was funded through an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
That panel is part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, which is managed by HHS.
BARDA allocated around $460 million for Vaxart to develop the new vaccine, including $240 million that has already been approved.
The announcement to pause Vaxart’s contract was followed by a report that an Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vaccine advisory committee meeting slated for March has been canceled, according to committee member Dr. Paul Offit, who is the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a vocal critic of Kennedy.
Offit told multiple media outlets on Feb. 26 that members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee received an email from the FDA letting them know the meeting would not take place. The meeting had been set to choose the strains for next season’s flu shot.
The FDA is one of 13 agencies under the HHS umbrella.
On Feb. 28, a World Health Organization (WHO) advisory committee is scheduled to gather and discuss which strains should be included in the next flu vaccines across the Northern Hemisphere. The FDA often adheres that that committee’s recommendations.
Trump issued an executive order in January to start the process of withdrawing the United States from the WHO.