The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is ending contracts to develop vaccines using messenger RNA technology, another step in the agency’s changing practices toward vaccines under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The agency is terminating 22 contracts worth almost $500 million, according to a statement Tuesday.

The move comes as Kennedy faces criticism from some of his supporters who are upset that the Food and Drug Administration has continued to approve mRNA vaccines. Though the agency has limited their use for some healthy children and required additional studies in other cases, some vaccine critics backing Kennedy want the shots pulled off the market entirely.

HHS described the move as a “coordinated wind-down” of mRNA vaccine projects under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA. Kennedy asserted that the vaccine projects being discontinued “fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.”

mRNA vaccines from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have been approved by the FDA to prevent Covid infections.

Kennedy said the agency was shifting funding toward other vaccine programs. The changes include the cancellation of an award to Moderna for a bird flu shot, the termination of a contract with Emory University and changes in existing contracts with CSL Seqirus. Other changes affect deals or proposals involving Pfizer, Sanofi and AstraZeneca Plc, according to the HHS statement.

In a statement, Moderna said it doesn’t currently have any active collaboration with BARDA. AstraZeneca declined to comment. The other companies didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

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(With assistance from Madison Muller and Gerry Smith.)

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