Jeri Dansky<p>Every day, a new gut punch. This story is paywalled, but the first paragraph, which you can see, tells you what you need to know about HHS cancelling a contract with Moderna. </p><p><a href="https://www.statnews.com/2025/05/28/moderna-flu-vaccine-development-cancelled-by-hhs-mrna-platform-offers-speedy-pandemic-response/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">statnews.com/2025/05/28/modern</span><span class="invisible">a-flu-vaccine-development-cancelled-by-hhs-mrna-platform-offers-speedy-pandemic-response/</span></a></p><p>Quoting a bit more:</p><p>Moderna had conducted a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its H5N1 vaccine, and was optimistic about the results it was seeing, the company said in a statement. </p><p>Experts who have worked in the pandemic preparedness field for years were dismayed by the development. </p><p>“In a rapidly expanding pandemic, time matters. … The sooner the population is protected from a lethal virus the more lives that will be saved. Of its many features, what mRNA technology provided most is speed,” said Bruce Gellin, a former director of the National Vaccine Program Office.</p><p>“If we lose our capability to respond as quickly as we can, we will sadly be able to calculate those who died because we made a decision that speed wasn’t important.”</p><p><a href="https://sfba.social/tags/vaccines" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>vaccines</span></a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/flu" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>flu</span></a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/Moderna" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Moderna</span></a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/H5N1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>H5N1</span></a></p>