Current efforts to ban mRNA vaccines. Update1. Serious development. Update 2.
This could result in mRNA HIV vaccines not being available in your state or the United States or not covered by insurance. With opposition, a company might not develop an mRNA HIV vaccine.
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#HIVVaxNow
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https://www.change.org/HIV_Vax_Now
Why this post?
This post is to discuss the current opposition to mRNA vaccines. This is important to Gays since mRNA vaccine technology is very promising to create an HIV vaccine after decades of failure to create an HIV vaccine. Additionally mRNA technology could be applied to other STDS.
Background and supporting information is being provided in posts to be used as resources. Also, all the writing on HIV in this newsletter since the beginning is in an ongoing post. The links to these modules and listing posts are at the end of this post.
This post will be updated as time goes on to contain a current collection of information to inform the reader of what opposition there is to an mRNA vaccine.
All the reporting on HIV in this newsletter.
What would be the impact of bans on mRNA vaccines?
You might not be able to get the HIV vaccine or the Gay community might not be able to achieve herd immunity.
Or corporations might be discouraged from developing an HIV vaccine in the United States
Doctors might be discouraged from giving it to patients. It might be that insurance won’t pay for it.
If it is not national, but a ban in your state, you will need to consider how far you need to drive to find a state where mRNA vaccines aren’t banned. There is the possibility that the neighboring state also has banned mRNA vaccines. If you have to travel outside the state to get vaccinated, perhaps the insurance company which operates in your state won’t cover it. Maybe doctors outside your state might fear being legally harassed for giving you a mRNA vaccine. You might have to organize bus trips and have special arrangements to get Gays vaccinated. With a state ban, it could be very challenging to reach herd immunity for HIV.
If the Federal government bans an mRNA vaccine, or enough states banned it so drug companies just avoid the United States, you will have to consider traveling out of the country and also to a country whose medicines you can trust. Except for an upper income segment of Gays, most Gays wouldn’t be able to get vaccinated, even if you had a program of buses to take Gays to Canada. Achieving herd immunity for Gays would be impossible.
Additionally, there might be laws banning travel to get an mRNA vaccine or transporting persons to get a vaccine, so organizing vaccination buses would be very difficult.
If insurance companies refuse to cover it, it will be very hard to get enough Gays vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
Current Efforts to ban mRNA vaccines.
The efforts are at the state level and so far, they seem to be failing.
ABC News, March 8, 2025, “MRNA vaccines now face attacks from some in the GOP.”
Researchers racing to develop bird flu vaccines for humans have turned to a cutting-edge technology that enabled the rapid development of lifesaving COVID shots.
There's a catch: The mRNA technology faces growing doubts among Republicans, including people around President Donald Trump.
Legislation aimed to ban or limit mRNA vaccines was introduced this year by GOP lawmakers in at least seven states. In some cases, the measures would hit doctors who give the injections with criminal penalties, fines, and possible revocation of their licenses.
Some congressional Republicans are also pressing regulators to revoke federal approval for mRNA-based COVID shots, which President Donald Trump touted as one of the signature achievements of his first term. [Boldface added.]
And:
The opposition comes at a critical juncture because vaccines using mRNA have applications well beyond avian flu and COVID. They hold the promise of lifesaving breakthroughs to treat many diseases, from melanoma to HIV to Zika, according to clinical trials. The proposed bans could block access to these advances.
It goes on to discuss various bills in different states and their different approaches to block mRNA vaccines.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/mrna-vaccines-now-face-attacks-gop/story?id=119553285
This post describes some of the tactics against vaccines in some states and how a vaccine can effectively banned even when not officially banned
Effort to ban vaccines started in Texas.
From the Dallas Gay Liberation newsletter.
RFK Jr. anti-vaccine views and a potential federal opposition.
Local law makers and state government likely won’t be discouraged by the federal government given that the person in charge of health is RFK Jr, known strong opponent of vaccines.
ABC News, Jan. 17, 2025, “RFK Jr. petitioned FDA in 2021 to revoke authorization of all COVID vaccines.”
Daily Mail, Jan. 17, 2025, “RFK Jr 'tried to stop COVID vaccine rollout just six months after it began'.”
However, research into the one-time presidential hopeful's past has unearthed a petition he filed with the Food and Drug Administration to stop authorizing the shots and not approve any new ones.
In May 2021, when he filed the petition, the New York Times says the jab is estimated to have already saved about 140,000 lives.
However, Kennedy - whose nonprofit Children's Health Defense filed the petition - claimed the benefits of the vaccine were not worth the health risks and that reasonably good treatments like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were available.
Trials have shown that ivermectin does nothing to prevent Covid patients from getting ill, while over 100 Americans died of the virus despite taking hydroxychloroquine in 2020 alone.
Dr. Robert Califf, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, called the petition a 'massive error.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14298713/rfk-jr-covid-vaccine-rollout-six-months.html
I will not describe his view points and actions in this post in depth, but refer the reader to these other posts.
Serious development at NIH regarding mRNA vaccines.
ArsTechnica, March 17, 2025, “Report: mRNA vaccines are in RFK Jr’s crosshairs; funding in question.”
I am concerned and will be watching closely.
Federal support for mRNA vaccine research appears in jeopardy after KFF Health News reported Sunday that officials at the National Institutes of Health have directed scientists to remove all references to the lifesaving technology from their grant applications. All such research is now under direct scrutiny from health secretary and long-time anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A senior official at the NIH's National Cancer Institute confirmed to KFF that NIH acting Director Matthew Memoli "sent an email across the NIH instructing that any grants, contracts, or collaborations involving mRNA vaccines be reported up the chain to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s office and the White House."
This new policy has been confirmed by some researchers who got feedback that they needed to remove mention of mRNA vaccines from their grant applications.
I don’t know how you can get funding for mRNA vaccines without mentioning mRNA vaccines.
What can Gays do regarding state lawmakers.
For a state lawmaker supporting the banning of mRNA vaccines if you are in their district you can vote against them. However, I suspect that this will be of limited effect. The greatest impact will be in the primary, and you might not be registered as a member of the anti-vaxxer’s political party.
However, there are two stronger measures you can take.
1. Donate to the anti-vaxxer’s opponent in the anti-vaxxer’s political party in their primary and if that fails, assist the anti-vaxxer’s opponent in the general election. This is likely of limited utility if the anti-vaxxer incumbent is dominating in his political party locally and the strength of the anti-vaxxer’s party dominates the anti-vaxxer’s district.
2. Do investigative reporting on what the anti-vaxxer does and make sure it is available to his opponents in the anti-vaxxer’s political party and to the anti-vaxxer’s opposition party.
3. Agitate in favor of vaccination. Point out what the consequences of no vaccine being available if Marburg or Nipah or some other dreadful thing reaches your community. Publicize some of the devastating plagues of the past. Perhaps Camus’ novel “The Plague,” might be publicized. Perhaps some of the dystopian plague movies might be of help.
4. Also you can work to discredit anti-vaxxers, example, I did this report on a local church that was celebrating not being vaccinated for measles. It was a 3rd in a series of report. It helps knock down the reputation of anti-vaxxers.
5. If some pandemic strikes, blame the anti-vaxxer and be absolutely merciless about it. Accept no apology. Mock him if he tries to perform the drama of realizing the error of his ways and expressing regrets. If he is in grief over the death of a loved one, don’t hesitate to make it clear how he is responsible. It needs to be extremely clear that pandering to anti-vaxxer nonsense will have consequences. This is deterrent. It might seem extreme now, but if the general community or the Gay community is experiencing death due to foolishness, it won’t seem excessive.
The Democrats solution will be to join their party, but unless they are likely to win the district, putting your efforts into their political party, assuming that is acceptable to you, is going to be diffusing your efforts to all sorts of issues, rather than concentrated against anti-vaxers. Even if the pro-vax party might win, directly working on the issue would be the situation where all your effort is directed to this one goal.
However, allies can be important also. You will have to judge the situation, but it could be that getting people in the anti-vaxxer’s party to defeat him in the next primary might be your best option. It is up to you to judge.
This is the best I can think of at this time. I will update this as I get more ideas.
#HIVVAXNow
