Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has halted a $240 million contract signed by the Biden administration to develop an oral COVID-19 vaccine.
The contract, now paused for 90 days, was signed with biotech company Vaxart Inc.
The freeze on the project comes just days before 10,000 people were scheduled to begin clinical trials for the oral vaccine on Monday.
Kennedy and his team will review the initial study before deciding whether to terminate or allow the contract to continue.
“While it is crucial that the Department [of] Health and Human Services (HHS) support pandemic preparedness, four years of the Biden administration’s failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production, including Vaxart’s,” Kennedy said in a statement to Fox News.
“I look forward to working with Vaxart and medical experts to ensure this work produces safe, effective, and fiscal-minded vaccine technology,” he added.
Kennedy has long led a non-profit organization called Children’s Health Defense.
According to its website, the organization’s mission is to “end childhood health epidemics by working aggressively to eliminate harmful exposures, hold those responsible accountable, and establish safeguards to prevent future harm. We fight corruption, mass surveillance and censorship that put profits before people as well as advocate for worldwide rights to health freedom and bodily autonomy.”
The organization provides legal support in opposing mandatory vaccinations in schools and the workplace.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Kennedy vowed to prosecute any official found guilty of criminal misconduct during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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