On January 17, HHS announced a $590 million award to Moderna to accelerate the development of mRNA-based vaccines against potential pandemic flu viruses, including H5N1. The announcement sparked conversation in vaccine opponent circles who claim mRNA vaccines are unsafe. Some social media responses decried the award for “funding our own demise” and repeated the myth that mRNA vaccines cause cancer. Other posts questioned if a bird flu vaccine is necessary, claimed no vaccines are safe or necessary, and declared that they will not get the vaccine. One social media user said they hope the Trump administration cancels the contract on “day one.”
Recommendation
Widespread distrust in vaccines that protect against future pandemics could have devastating public health impacts. Prebunking messaging may explain that with current bird flu outbreaks and the high likelihood of a flu pandemic in the future, funding new flu vaccines is a matter of public health and one of HHS’s responsibilities. An mRNA-based flu vaccine has the potential to be more effective and capable of protecting against more flu strains. Debunking messaging may emphasize that mRNA vaccines are safe and based on decades of research.
Fact-checking sources: Public Good News, IDSA
