The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on 5 Aug 2025 that it is terminating 22 Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority contracts and solicitations devoted to messenger-RNA vaccines, withdrawing roughly $500 million in funding. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that available data show mRNA shots do not provide reliable protection against upper-respiratory infections such as Covid-19 and seasonal influenza. BARDA will allow a handful of late-stage awards, including agreements with Arcturus and Amplitude, to run their course in order to preserve prior taxpayer investment. Kennedy added that mRNA research can continue at the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense, but no new BARDA money will be directed to the platform; the agency will redirect resources to alternative vaccine technologies that he said have stronger safety and durability profiles. Public-health specialists cautioned that the decision could slow the country’s ability to produce vaccines quickly in a future pandemic, noting that mRNA technology was the fastest to reach the market during Covid-19. The move follows Kennedy’s 26 Jun 2025 announcement that the United States would halt contributions to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance—steps that together mark a sharp reorientation of federal vaccine policy under the current administration.