Montana seeks to ban mRNA shots as vaccine hesitancy soars

Montana’s state legislature will vote on a bill to ban mRNA vaccines, the latest indication of soaring vaccine hesitancy on the political right in the US following the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a vaccine skeptic — to lead the nation’s health and medical science agencies as part of the new Trump administration.

Vaccines using mRNA technology rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the shots credited with helping to prevent and treat the disease. The same technology is being developed to vaccinate against some forms of cancer and other infectious diseases, with the scientists who first developed the tech winning the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.