The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is continuing its grant-canceling spree, allegedly targeting dozens of research projects related to studying vaccine hesitancy and improving vaccine rates, according to several news reports.
The more than 40 terminated grants amount to millions of dollars in lost funding, according to NPR. The publication obtained information from two NIH staffers and one person familiar with NIH's activities who all requested anonymity. NPR also viewed emails and documents provided by the federal workers, according to the publication.
The canceled grants follow earlier efforts designed to end funding for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and research into LGBTQ+ health issues.
Similar reporting has been made by the Washington Post and Science. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the NIH did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fierce Biotech.
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An email sent to NIH leadership and cited by NPR said: "It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focuses on gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment."
The report comes amid an ongoing measles outbreak that originated in West Texas and has primarily affected unvaccinated children. Measles had been declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 after a decades-long vaccination campaign, according to the CDC.
The NIH is also scrutinizing grants related to mRNA vaccines, NPR reports. Acting NIH director Matthew Memoli, M.D., recently asked for data about agency funding that goes toward mRNA vaccine research, according to an email viewed by NPR. Such calls for information have preceded the cancelation of other grants.
President Donald Trump’s HHS is also currently reevaluating a $590 million contract with Moderna, signed by the Biden administration, to develop mRNA vaccines for different types of influenza, including the current outbreak of bird flu that is infecting chickens and dairy cows around the country.
As of March 10, there have been 70 confirmed human cases of bird flu in the U.S., with the disease also sweeping through 985 cow herds in 17 states.