Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has put a stop to a contract initiated during the Biden administration for the development of a new COVID-19 vaccine, according to Fox News Digital.
“While it is crucial that the Department [of] Health and Human Services (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,” Kennedy said in a statement to the outlet.
“I look forward to working with Vaxart and medical experts to ensure this work produces safe, effective, and fiscal-minded vaccine technology,” he added.
The contract in question involves Vaxart Inc., an American biotech firm, which has been working on an oral COVID-19 vaccine. Rather than canceling the agreement entirely, Kennedy has paused the trial with a 90-day stop-work order, which was issued on Friday.
This stop-work order came just before the clinical trials were set to begin on Monday with 10,000 participants, as reported.
The contract is part of the Biden administration’s $4.7 billion Project NextGen initiative, launched in 2023 to “streamline the development of new vaccines,” the report notes. Vaxart’s vaccine is being funded through an agreement with BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority), a division within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response under HHS.
Fox News Digital reported that BARDA had committed $460 million to support Vaxart’s vaccine development, with $240 million already allocated for the preliminary study.
The stop-work order prevents Vaxart from requesting the remaining $230 million for the clinical trials from BARDA until further notice, the report states. However, Vaxart is still permitted to bill HHS for medical monitoring of participants in earlier trials.
This pause came less than two weeks after Kennedy’s confirmation as HHS Secretary. After Kennedy’s confirmation, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which Kennedy will lead to investigate and address “the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis.”
Under the Biden administration, COVID-19 vaccinations were mandated across federal agencies, and many businesses followed suit, which sparked significant backlash, protests, and led to the dismissal of employees who refused to comply with the mandates.
Trump has since signed several executive orders related to the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates, including one that reinstates service members who were discharged for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Trump also signed an order cutting federal funding for schools and universities that require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before attending in-person classes.
{Matzav.com}