This was one in a continuing line of moves that have put Kennedy's vaccine skepticism into public policy, though scientists say the vaccines are safe.

In justifying the government's termination of $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine projects, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. falsely claimed mRNA vaccines "fail to protect effectively" against COVID-19 and suggested they are unsafe.

When COVID-19 cases were surging, Dr. David Wohl saw patients "hungry for air" fill UNC hospital wards. What most saved lives, he said, were vaccines developed with unprecedented speed using mRNA technologies.