I am responding to Larry Pareles’ thoughtful letter, published on Aug. 15. I couldn’t agree more. The recent decisions by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to cancel nearly half a billion dollars in mRNA vaccine research funding, disband the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and fire the director of the CDC are more than reckless —they are a direct threat to America’s health, security, and global leadership.
The original letter rightly points out the extraordinary success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, but the story doesn’t stop there. This technology is the foundation for a new generation of treatments: cancer immunotherapies, vaccines against HIV and malaria, and rapid response tools for future pandemics. Shutting down this research is like grounding the Wright brothers after their first flight — it strangles progress at the very moment it is proving its worth.
At a time when emerging diseases, seasonal influenza, and new COVID variants demand vigilance, Kennedy’s crusade against vaccines leaves Americans more vulnerable to preventable illness, outbreaks, and death. Cutting off vaccine research is not just shortsighted; it is a betrayal of every family that depends on science to protect their children, elders, and communities. Intentionally cutting programs that save lives and prevent disease comes down to “autogenocide”: the intentional extermination of a country’s citizens by its government. We don’t have to accept this.
We should be clear: the COVID vaccines saved millions of American lives. Any attempt to erase that truth or halt progress is driven by ideology, not evidence. Future generations will judge us harshly if we let politics destroy science.
Congress must act to restore funding immediately. If the federal government, however, is incapable to protecting us, then our state government must fill the void with research funding, vaccine stockpiles, and improved public health infrastructure. If that doesn’t work, then how about chartered buses to Montreal to get a jab? Creative solutions are needed to address this suicidal dismantling of our health systems.
Our health, our security, and our leadership in the world depend on it.
Miriam DeFant
Shutesbury