No. of Recommendations: 17
The Department of Agriculture is scrambling to rehire workers just fired by Elon Musk. Those scientists, lab techs, veterinarians, and inspectors were working on the avian flu outbreak — until the Department of Government Efficiency came along.
So far the bird flu has affected 166 million birds and hundreds of herds of cattle in the U.S. More than 70 cases have been confirmed in humans. One person has died. Scientists are concerned it will become more transmissible and continue to spread.
Just before he left office, President Biden awarded Moderna, the maker of one of the most well-known Covid vaccines, a $590 million contract to fast-track development of a bird flu vaccine. Biden made the 11th-hour grant because of the incoming administration’s skepticism about vaccinations. He was right to be concerned.
Yesterday, Bloomberg was first to report that the Trump administration would “reevaluate” the Moderna contract, which effectively puts the vaccine development on hold. Moderna was already in the testing phase.
Trump has also fired people working in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention immunization unit, cut funding for development of an oral Covid vaccine, and canceled a meeting with the FDA’s vaccine advisers to plan for next year’s flu shot.
Stop me if you’ve seen this movie before. It doesn’t have a happy ending
