Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put a temporary hold on a major federal contract for a new COVID-19 vaccine initiated by the Biden administration, Fox News Digital reported on Thursday. Kennedy and health officials in his agency will review early study findings over the next 90 days before deciding whether to go ahead or scrap the project entirely.
“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 comments provided 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.”
On Friday, Kennedy issued a 90-day stop-work order to give the agency time to review the contract between HHS and Vaxart Inc., the American biotech company that is working on creating an oral COVID-19 vaccine.
Clinical trials involving 10,000 participants were set to begin on Monday to test the efficacy of the new vaccine product. The contract is not yet canceled outright but has been temporarily halted.
The Biden administration signed the contract with Vaxart as part of their $4.7 billion Project NextGen. That program, which launched in 2023, was intended to accelerate vaccine development. The Biden administration was heavily focused on Covid vaccine development and went as far as to implement mandates for all government workers, including those in the military, requiring them to take the Covid-19 vaccine.
Funding for Vaxart’s work came through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), an HHS division focused on preparedness and response efforts, which allocated about $460 million for the vaccine’s development, with $240 million already authorized for preliminary studies. The stop-work order halts Vaxart’s ability to invoice for the renaming $230 million in their contract. However, Vaxart can still bill HHS for medical monitoring of participants who took part in earlier trials.