Halting mRNA Research Could Deepen the Public’s Distrust and Uncertainty about Vaccine Safety – with Potential Consequences

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On August 5^th, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced plans to halt $500 million in federal investments in vaccine development projects using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology – a move that will likely add to the ongoing confusion and partisan divide over this vaccine platform.

The mRNA technology, which has been in development for decades, became synonymous with COVID-19 vaccines after the FDA granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in December 2020, three months before EUA of the other COVID-19 vaccine using traditional virus-blocking technology. While studies have demonstrated that vaccines using mRNA technology are safe and effective including the COVID-19 vaccine, some – including RFK, Jr. – immediately began questioning the safety of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. During the initial vaccine rollout in early 2021, three in ten (29%) Republicans said they would “definitely not” get the vaccine when it was available to them and many of them cited concerns about the new technology and the possible long-term side effects as their reasons for not getting the shot.

More than four years later, public uncertainty about the safety of the technology persists as some states introduced legislation to ban mRNA vaccines. A recent KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust found that large shares of adults, including about half of Democrats (45%) and independents (50%) as well as six in ten Republicans (61%) say they don’t know enough about mRNA technology to know if it is safe or not. Half (52%) of Democrats think the technology is “generally safe,” which is more than three times the share of Republicans (15%) who agree. A quarter (23%) of Republicans think the technology is “generally unsafe.” In addition, last month KFF polling showed that partisanship continues to play a major role in vaccine uptake, with seven in ten Democrats saying they will get the COVID-19 vaccine if it is available this fall, compared to less than four in ten independents and just one in five Republicans. Six in ten Republicans say they will “definitely not” get the vaccine.

As the debate over mRNA technology continues, public uncertainty about its safety is likely to persist and may even deepen the partisan divide in COVID-19 vaccine uptake. It could also have larger implications as distrust in vaccine technology could jeopardize progress on potential mRNA vaccine for cancer and other conditions as well as hinder any efforts to develop new vaccines in response to future pandemics, not to mention convince the public to take them.