The nation's largest union of registered nurses provided the following statement in response to the Department of Health and Human Services, headed by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., slashing nearly $500 million in mRNA vaccine research:

RFK Jr.’s decision to slash mRNA vaccine investments – using deceptive claims that cast doubts on the scientifically irrefutable fact that vaccines save lives – will harm nurses, who are on the frontlines of every pandemic, and the patients we serve.  

mRNA vaccines were key to saving nurses’ lives and saving our patients’ lives early in the Covid-19 pandemic. We know that Covid-19 will not be the last pandemic. While we can’t get back the lives lost, or the months and years of those suffering from long Covid, or the health conditions exacerbated by the virus, our political leaders can and must take steps now to do everything possible to prepare our health care system for the next pandemic. mRNA vaccine technology enables researchers and scientists to develop vaccines far more quickly and accurately than older technologies that RFK Jr. is promoting. Our country needs every tool in our arsenal to prepare for what scientists have predicted: the frequency and severity of pandemics will grow as climate change and biodiversity losses progress.

The pulling of this investment by RFK Jr. and the Trump administration is part of a broader political project that intends to put the burden of surviving pandemics, and health threats in general, on the individual. Nurses condemn this lack of planning and preparedness. Our public health is dependent on taking collective action. Vaccines remain one of the most powerful collective health tools we have. They protect all of us, but especially our seniors, children, and our most vulnerable, as well as the frontline workers who don’t have the luxury to work from home when emergencies arise. Cancelling investment in the most promising vaccine technology we have is a deadly mistake.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.