FDA's approval of new mRNA vaccine does not necessarily signal the government's embrace of the technology, experts say

The U.S.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first mRNA vaccine for seasonal influenza , bringing a bumpy approval process to a close.

The shot's approval appears to contradict the federal government's generally unfavorable view of mRNA vaccines.

The U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) terminated half a billion dollars in funding for mRNA vaccine development, impacting 22 projects.

A key vaccine advisory committee was remade to include people who have been vocally opposed to mRNA vaccines .

Health Secretary Robert F.

Kennedy Jr. has falsely called the mRNA-based COVID-19 shots the " deadliest vaccines ever made " and incorrectly claimed that mRNA vaccines don't work well against upper-respiratory viral infections .

Does the approval of a new mRNA vaccine signal a shift in this sentiment? Not necessarily, experts told Live Science.

"I don't read this as a shift in the administration's stance on mRNA," Jeff Coller , a distinguished professor of RNA biology and therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University, said in an email.

Coller is also a co-founder of the Alliance for mRNA Medicines , an international association aimed at advancing mRNA technology, and he advises several RNA companies.

The approval does suggest, however, that the FDA's approval process isn't completely compromised by anti-mRNA sentiment, Coller said.

"What the approval does signal, and I think this is the more useful story: the statutory machinery still works when it is allowed to run," Coller said.

"For companies and investors deciding whether to keep building in this space in the United States, that matters more than any statement from HHS." A "tortured" approval process The new flu vaccine, called mFlusiva, was made by Moderna.