RFK Jr. Bets $500 Million on Universal Vaccines in Shift From Covid-19 Funding

In a shift away from next-generation Covid-19 vaccines, the Trump administration is investing $500 million in a vaccine project championed by two scientists who were recently tapped to serve in senior roles within the National Institutes of Health, according to emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. 

The unusually large sum comes as the nation’s health agencies are cutting budgets, shrinking staff and terminating hundreds of active research grants. 

The project involves producing vaccines from chemically inactivated whole viruses, a throwback to how flu vaccines were made decades ago. The goal, one that scientists have chased unsuccessfully for decades, is to make “universal” vaccines that protect against multiple strains of a virus at once.