Can mRNA vaccines protect against respiratory viruses?

In a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, 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.

People often say that if you “follow the money,” 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 largest funder of 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.

Studies show 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.

Recently, RFK Jr. argues that mRNA vaccines do not work for respiratory illnesses, such as COVID. While some experts think that other types of vaccines, like inhaled ones, might work even better in the future, current research shows that mRNA vaccines for diseases like COVID do work.

For example, one study looked at the impact of COVID vaccination 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 vaccines are effective.

It is also important to understand that stopping funding for mRNA vaccines would not only affect COVID research. It would also slow down or stop research into using mRNA technology to treat or prevent other diseases, including some that are not related to the lungs.