NIH director: mRNA vaccine contracts were canceled because public lacks trust in technology

The head of the National Institutes of Health has offered a new explanation for why the federal government canceled $500 million in contracts to help develop messenger RNA vaccines, saying the platform is not viable because the public doesn’t trust it. 

The agency’s director, Jay Bhattacharya, made the statement during an appearance on right-wing provocateur Steve Bannon’s podcast, “War Room,” that aired on Saturday. His rationale for the cancellation of the contracts does not align with the explanation offered last week by his boss, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said vaccines made using this platform were not effective and were unsafe. 

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