Introduction to the Trump Team’s Vaccine Initiative
The Trump administration’s unprecedented $500 million grant for a broadly protective flu shot has confounded vaccine and pandemic preparedness experts, who said the project was in early stages, relied on old technology and was just one of more than 200 such efforts.
Background on the Vaccine Development Program
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shifted the money from a pandemic preparedness fund to a vaccine development program led by two scientists whom the administration recently named to senior positions at the National Institutes of Health.
While some experts were pleased that Kennedy had supported any vaccine project, they said the May 1 announcement contravened sound scientific policy, appeared arbitrary, and raised the kinds of questions about conflicts of interest that have dogged many of President Donald Trump’s actions.
Scientific Concerns and Criticisms
Focusing vast resources on a single vaccine candidate “is a little like going to the Kentucky Derby and putting all your money on one horse,” said William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University professor and past president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. “In science we normally put money on a number of different horses because we can’t be entirely sure who’s going to win.”
Others were mystified by the decision, since the candidate vaccine uses technology that was largely abandoned in the 1970s and eschews techniques developed in recent decades through funding from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Defense Department.
The Vaccine Development Process
“This is not a next-generation vaccine,” said Rick Bright, who led HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, in the first Trump administration. “It’s so last-generation, or first-generation, it’s mind-blowing.”
The vaccine is being developed at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases by Jeffery Taubenberger, whom Trump named as acting chief of the institute in late April, and his colleague Matthew Memoli, a critic of U.S. COVID-19 policy whom Trump picked to lead the NIH until April 1, when Jay Bhattacharya took office. Bhattacharya named Memoli his principal deputy.
Comparison with Other Vaccine Initiatives
In a May 1 news release, HHS called the Taubenberger-Memoli vaccine initiative “Generation Gold Standard,” saying it represented “a decisive shift toward transparency, effectiveness, and comprehensive preparedness.” Bhattacharya said it represented a “paradigm shift.”
But the NIH vaccine-makers’ goal of creating a shot that protects against multiple or all strains of influenza — currently vaccines must be given each year to account for shifts in the virus — is not new.
Expert Opinions and Reactions
Then-NIAID Director Anthony Fauci launched a network of academic researchers in pursuit of a broadly protective flu vaccine in 2019. In addition to that NIH-led consortium, more than 200 flu vaccines are under development in the U.S. and other countries.
Many use newer technologies, and some are at more advanced stages of human testing than the Taubenberger vaccine, whose approach appears basically the same as the one used in flu vaccines starting in 1944, Bright said.
Conclusion
The Trump team’s $500 million bet on old vaccine technology has puzzled scientists and raised concerns about the allocation of resources and the potential for conflicts of interest. While the goal of creating a broadly protective flu vaccine is commendable, the approach taken by the Taubenberger-Memoli initiative has been criticized for relying on outdated technology and neglecting more advanced and promising approaches.
FAQs
Q: What is the Taubenberger-Memoli vaccine initiative?
A: The Taubenberger-Memoli vaccine initiative is a vaccine development program led by two scientists at the National Institutes of Health, aiming to create a broadly protective flu vaccine.
Q: How much funding has the initiative received?
A: The initiative has received an unprecedented $500 million grant from the Trump administration.
Q: What technology is used in the vaccine development process?
A: The vaccine uses a whole-virus inactivation method, which has been largely abandoned since the 1970s.
Q: What are the concerns and criticisms surrounding the initiative?
A: Experts have raised concerns about the allocation of resources, the potential for conflicts of interest, and the reliance on outdated technology, neglecting more advanced and promising approaches.
