HHS Secretary RFK Jr. Pauses Contract n To Create A New COVID-19 Vaccine

BREAKING: HHS Secretary RFK Jr. pauses a multimillion-dollar contract from the Biden administration to create a new COVID-19 vaccine.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has paused a multimillion-dollar contract from the Biden administration to create a new COVID-19 vaccine, Fox News Digital has learned. 

“While it is crucial that the Department [of] Health and Human Services (HHS) support pandemic preparedness, four years of the Biden administration’s failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production, including Vaxart’s,” Kennedy said in comments provided to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. 

“I look forward to working with Vaxart and medical experts to ensure this work produces safe, effective, and fiscal-minded vaccine technology.”

Kennedy issued a 90-day stop-work order on Friday related to the HHS contract with American biotech company Vaxart Inc., which is working to develop a new COVID-19 vaccine that can be taken orally. The stop-work order comes as 10,000 individuals were slated to begin clinical trials on Monday. 

The trial is only paused, not terminated, with Kennedy and other health officials set to examine the study’s initial findings over the next 90 days before deciding on next steps. 

The creation of a new COVID-19 vaccine was part of the Biden administration’s $4.7 billion Project NextGen initiative, which was launched in 2023 and works to streamline the development of new vaccines. The Vaxart vaccine was specifically funded through an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is a department within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response under the HHS umbrella. 

BARDA obligated roughly $460 million to Vaxart’s development of the new vaccine, with a total of $240 million already authorized for the preliminary study, Fox Digital learned. 

The announcement comes just under two weeks after Kennedy was confirmed and sworn in as the nation’s 26th chief of HHS. The same day he was sworn in, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which is led by Kennedy to investigate and address “the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis.“ 

COVID-19 vaccines were mandated across the federal government under the Biden administration