{"id":16153,"date":"2026-04-30T13:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T18:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/?post_type=jtf_topics&p=16153"},"modified":"2026-04-30T13:38:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T18:38:54","slug":"can-mrna-vaccines-protect-against-respiratory-viruses","status":"publish","type":"jtf_topics","link":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/jtf_topics\/can-mrna-vaccines-protect-against-respiratory-viruses\/","title":{"rendered":"Can mRNA vaccines protect against respiratory viruses?"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row source=”” text=”Clinical Trials” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” google_fonts=”font_family:Abril%20Fatface%3Aregular|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” link=”” css=”.vc_custom_1708910874436{border-top-width: 1px !important;border-right-width: 1px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”The Claim:” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text css=””]In a recent Senate Finance Committee\u00a0hearing<\/a>, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. said that he took away over $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine research because they do not work. He also said that if they did work, vaccine companies would spend their own money on research.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”The Facts:” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text css=””]People often say that if you \u201cfollow the money,\u201d everything leads back to drug companies. It is true that pharmaceutical companies often pay for the later stages of research, like large clinical trials and bringing a product to market. However, government funding plays a major role much earlier in the process. In the United States, the government is the\u00a0largest funder<\/a>\u00a0of basic and early-stage medical research, mainly through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This early research helps scientists understand diseases and develop new ideas for treatments.<\/p>\n

Studies<\/a>\u00a0show that government-funded research is connected to nearly all new drugs approved in recent years, and it may account for about half of the total investment needed to create them. Drug companies usually build on this early work and then fund the expensive later stages.<\/p>\n

Recently, RFK Jr.\u00a0argues that mRNA vaccines do not work for respiratory illnesses, such as COVID.\u00a0While some experts think that other types of vaccines, like inhaled ones, might work even better in the future,\u00a0current research<\/a>\u00a0shows that mRNA vaccines for diseases like COVID\u00a0do work.<\/p>\n

For example,\u00a0one study<\/a>\u00a0looked at the impact of COVID\u00a0vaccination campaigns between April 2021 and March 2022. It found that vaccines helped prevent about 2.6 million mild COVID-19 cases, nearly 244,000 hospitalizations, and saved over 51,000 lives. The study also estimated that the vaccines provided about $732 billion in overall benefits, including reduced healthcare costs and fewer lost workdays. Other studies have reached similar conclusions, showing that mRNA COVID\u00a0vaccines are effective.<\/p>\n

It is also important to understand that stopping funding for mRNA vaccines would not only affect COVID\u00a0research. It would also slow down or stop research into using\u00a0mRNA technology<\/a>\u00a0to treat or prevent other diseases, including some that are not related to the lungs.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row source=”” text=”Clinical Trials” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” google_fonts=”font_family:Abril%20Fatface%3Aregular|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” link=”” css=”.vc_custom_1708910874436{border-top-width: 1px !important;border-right-width: 1px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”The Claim:” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text css=””]In a recent Senate Finance Committee\u00a0hearing, HHS Secretary RFK…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"parent":0,"template":"","jtf_topic_subjects":[301,189,188,298,218],"class_list":["post-16153","jtf_topics","type-jtf_topics","status-publish","hentry","jtf_topic_subjects-covid","jtf_topic_subjects-covid-19","jtf_topic_subjects-mrna-vaccines","jtf_topic_subjects-rfk","jtf_topic_subjects-vaccine-safety","entry","no-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/16153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/jtf_topics"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/16153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16154,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/16153\/revisions\/16154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"jtf_topic_subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topic_subjects?post=16153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}