Burgess: Dropping mRNA Vaccines Robs U.S. of a Healthier Future

Abandoning mRNA vaccines robs Americans of a healthier future

President Trump has never received the credit he deserves for Operation Warp Speed.

This was perhaps the greatest achievement of his first term and one of the greatest public health interventions in history.

The average vaccine takes nearly a decade to get approved, but with the world in lockdown and thousands of Americans dying every day, President Trump knew that we couldn’t wait that long.

Thanks to his strong leadership and a $20 billion investment from the Trump administration, resolution of the scourge of the new coronavirus came less than one year after the virus was even discovered.

Five years after the start of the pandemic, we have all been shaped by those difficult years.

But in retrospect, one thing is clear: the mRNA coronavirus vaccines saved millions of lives, and we can build on that success to save even more lives today.

It's concerning that respected health leaders at the Department of Health and Human Services are walking away from investment in mRNA, a versatile technology that could one day solve the problem of multiple human afflictions, including some cancers.

The mRNA coronavirus vaccines saved more than 20 million lives in 2021 alone.

Billions of people — indeed, the majority of human beings — have received the coronavirus vaccines safely. The mRNA vaccines are still as safe and effective as they were when Operation Warp Speed completed.

Decades of research allowed the scientific community to develop a mRNA vaccine efficiently, long before a coronavirus pandemic was even imagined.

Researchers were able to take existing knowledge and explore new possibilities, developing vaccines that saved lives and reopened our economy.

Research pays off in unexpected ways — and we should use the coronavirus vaccine research to achieve future breakthroughs.

Now that the acute phase of the pandemic is over, it’s time for the second Trump Administration to build on the success of Operation Warp Speed.

We can take lessons learned from the pandemic and continue to incentivize innovation to treat diseases. HIV, Hepatitis C, herpes, and Epstein-Barr together kill more than 10,000 Americans every year.

Fortunately, exciting mRNA vaccine research is happening both in the United States and around the world.

Florida researchers are working on a potential universal cancer vaccine.

Israeli researchers are studying a potential vaccine against a deadly bacteria.

Researchers are even developing a potential mRNA vaccine against lung cancer, which kills more Americans than any other cancer.

And it's important that this research and development remain in America where transparency and patient safety are given the highest priority.

Health leaders in the administration should reconsider the decision to cancel $500 million in mRNA vaccine development.

As Operation Warp Speed proved, it should not take a decade to get a vaccine approved.

With the right investment and the right approach by regulators, the approval time can and should be much lower.

Americans need strategic government incentives and a pro-innovation spirit to fuel development of technologies that make for a healthier nation.

Michael Burgess, MD is a former Texas OB/GYN and former Congressman for Texas’ 26th Congressional District.