A major storm has erupted in the scientific community after the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that funding for mRNA vaccine research—the very foundation of the Covid-19 vaccines—is being wound down, claiming the technology has “failed to earn public trust.”
The announcement sparked outrage and incredulity among scientists, who argue that few have damaged public trust in vaccines more than Jay Bhattacharya and other top health figures from the Trump administration.
“It is astounding that Bhattacharya dares to blame Biden-era policies for mistrust in mRNA vaccines, when he and his allies have done so much to erode appreciation for these life-saving breakthroughs,” said Jeremy Berg, former head of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the NIH.
Bhattacharya made his remarks in a Washington Post op-ed, defending Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a known anti-vaccine advocate—for terminating $500 million in federal funding for mRNA research, citing a review of “the science.” Experts counter that the evidence Kennedy reviewed does not support halting this research.
While acknowledging the mRNA platform could deliver groundbreaking treatments for cancer and other diseases, Bhattacharya argued it had failed during a public health emergency because it “had not earned public trust.”
“No matter how elegant the science, a platform that lacks credibility among the people it seeks to protect cannot fulfill its public health mission,” he wrote.
Scientists fiercely disagreed. Many pointed out that Covid-19 vaccines were highly successful at preventing severe illness and death, even if they did not completely stop infections.
Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, stressed:
“The vaccine isn’t running for office. We don’t vote on whether to use it—we need to explain the science better. And scientifically, the vaccines worked and were safe.”
Bhattacharya’s attack targeted the Biden administration, despite the fact that Covid vaccines were developed under Operation Warp Speed during the Trump presidency—something Trump himself celebrates as a historic achievement.
Doctors and researchers disputed Bhattacharya’s narrative. Jonathan Howard, physician and author of the upcoming Everyone Else Is Lying to You, accused Bhattacharya of being omnipresent in the media early in the pandemic, pushing articles that opposed Covid restrictions. He also recalled Bhattacharya downplaying Covid’s fatality rate in March 2020 and spreading vaccine disinformation by exaggerating rare, mild side effects.
“It’s galling for him to now use ‘mistrust’ as an excuse to destroy an entire field of science,” Howard said.
Bhattacharya insists he was a victim of censorship and that his views were dissenting, not dangerous.
But Joshua Weitz, professor of biology at the University of Maryland, said the op-ed ignored how both anti-vaccine influencers and the current health department leadership contributed to public mistrust.
Weitz noted that Bhattacharya even downplayed the lives saved by Covid vaccines—citing a study estimating 2.5 million lives saved globally instead of the 10 million or more reported elsewhere. “Even the low number is proof of massive public health impact,” he said.
The NIH did not comment, but researchers fear this is part of a larger anti-mRNA push. Before his confirmation, Kennedy had openly questioned the technology. After taking office, scientists say references to mRNA vaccines were scrubbed from grant applications.
In May, HHS canceled $776 million in contracts with Moderna for flu pandemic vaccine development. Now, with Kennedy’s latest funding cut and Bhattacharya’s high-profile op-ed, many fear a coordinated rollback of mRNA research.
“This feels like the tip of the iceberg,” warned Jeff Coller, professor of RNA biology at Johns Hopkins University. He called the Covid vaccine data “among the most convincing in history,” with 95% efficacy shown in FDA trials.
“Can we sustain the promise of this technology in today’s climate? It doesn’t take much foresight to see this trend becoming official policy,” Coller said.
The fight over mRNA vaccines is no longer just a scientific debate—it’s a battle over trust, politics, and the future of medical innovation.