Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is sworn in as Department of Health and Human Services secretary hours after being confirmed by the Senate in a near-party-line vote.
FIRST ON FOX: Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has paused a multimillion-dollar contract from the Biden administration to create a new COVID-19 vaccine, Fox News Digital has learned.
“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 Digital on Tuesday.
“I look forward to working with Vaxart and medical experts to ensure this work produces safe, effective, and fiscal-minded vaccine technology.”
Kennedy issued a 90-day stop-work order on Friday related to the HHS contract with American biotech company Vaxart Inc., which is working to develop a new COVID-19 vaccine that can be taken orally. The stop-work order comes as 10,000 individuals were slated to begin clinical trials on Monday.
The trial is only paused, not terminated, with Kennedy and other health officials set to examine the study’s initial findings over the next 90 days before deciding on next steps.
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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a 90-day stop-work order related to the HHS contract with American biotech company Vaxart Inc., which is working to develop a new COVID-19 vaccine that can be taken orally. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
The creation of a new COVID-19 vaccine was part of the Biden administration’s $4.7 billion Project NextGen initiative, which was launched in 2023 and works to streamline the development of new vaccines. The Vaxart vaccine was specifically funded through an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is a department within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response under the HHS umbrella.
BARDA obligated roughly $460 million to Vaxart’s development of the new vaccine, with a total of $240 million already authorized for the preliminary study, Fox Digital learned.
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A recent modification to the contract would have allowed Vaxart to invoice BARDA for the remaining roughly $230 million for clinical trials, but the stop-work order prevents the biotech company from invoicing BARDA until further notice. Vaxart, however, can still invoice HHS related to medical monitoring of individuals who took part in an initial round of trials, Fox Digital learned.
The announcement comes about two weeks after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed and sworn in as the nation’s 26th chief of HHS. (Getty Images)
The announcement comes just under two weeks after Kennedy was confirmed and sworn in as the nation’s 26th chief of HHS. The same day he was sworn in, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which is led by Kennedy to investigate and address “the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis.”
COVID-19 vaccines were mandated across the federal government under the Biden administration. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
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The commission initially will focus its investigations on chronic childhood diseases, such as autism.
Kennedy, who ran for president as a Democrat in the 2024 cycle before ultimately dropping out and endorsing Trump, has come under fire from critics for an alleged anti-vaccine stance, which he has repeatedly denied, including during his recent Senate confirmation hearings.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order to withhold federal funding from schools and universities that impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Feb. 14, 2025, in the Oval Office. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish,” Kennedy said of his vaccine stance during his hearing before the Senate Finance Committee in January. “And nobody called me anti-fish. And I believe that … that vaccines play a critical role in healthcare. All of my kids are vaccinated. I’ve read many books on vaccines. My first book in 2014, a first line of it is, ‘I am not anti-vaccine,’ and [the] last line is, ‘I am not anti-vaccine’; nor am I the enemy of food producers. American farms are the bedrock of our culture, of our politics, of our national security.”
COVID-19 vaccines were mandated across the federal government under the Biden administration, while many businesses in the private sector also required employees to get the vaccine, which sparked widespread backlash and protests as some employees lost their jobs for bucking the orders.
