States push fight against mRNA vaccines
Why it matters: The efforts risk further politicizing science and illustrate how the pandemic experience we all want to put in the rearview continues to drive policymaking.
Driving the news: No state has enacted a ban on mRNA so far. But Iowa, Montana and Idaho have all introduced legislation this year aimed at cutting the use of mRNA vaccine technology.
In Iowa this week, a bill advanced out of a legislative subcommittee that would penalize providers with fines of as much as $500 for each shot of mRNA-based vaccine they provide.
After pushback, state Sen. Doug Campbell, who introduced the bill, backtracked and reworked it to instead require mRNA vaccine makers to waive federal liability protections in order to distribute within the state.
The move would allow patients who believe they were harmed by the vaccine to file a lawsuit. "If I was a manufacturer of car tires and they delammed at 1,000 miles, I should be liable for that," he told the TV station KEYC.
Meanwhile, an Idaho bill that would outright ban the use of mRNA-based vaccines for 10 years is being considered in a state Senate committee but hasn't advanced. A regional public health department in the state has already been blocked from administering COVID shots in six Idaho counties.
Montana's measure would have criminalized the administration of mRNA shots but was ultimately defeated in February after two dozen Republicans voted against it.
One lawmaker said she agreed with the bill's premise but ultimately "defaulted to the side of personal freedom" with her vote, Daily Inter Lake reported.
The big picture: President Trump's "Make America Healthy Again" commission is preparing to review certain vaccines for links to chronic illness. Health and Human Services is also reviewing federal funding of mRNA vaccines for pandemic influenza.
The commission and the state efforts are unfolding against a backdrop of ongoing suspicion of public health officials and the tools they used to fight the pandemic.
In Florida on Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis called for lawmakers to permanently ban vaccine mandates of mRNA shots. States like Louisiana and Texas ended mass vaccinations and any other activities to promote the vaccines.
What they're saying: "I'm extremely disappointed, indeed distressed, at that sort of activity," William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, told Axios about the efforts to block the use of vaccines made with mRNA.
"It's as though state legislatures wish to take over a function of the Food and Drug Administration, and they're simply not in a position to do that. They don't have sufficient knowledge and background to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of vaccines," he said.
Meanwhile, national health agencies around the world have probed the safety and efficacy of the vaccines and come to the same conclusion: Their benefits outweigh their risks.
Beyond that, "data from real world studies provide additional evidence that the vaccines continue to help protect against COVID-19 disease, including severe outcomes like COVID-19 associated hospitalization and death," Pfizer, one manufacturer of COVID mRNA vaccine, said in an emailed statement to Axios.
State lawmakers who sponsored the new bills didn't respond to a request for comment for this story.
Zoom in: The state measures have incorrectly described the vaccines as gene-based or referred to them as "gene-therapy" products.
"They don't get anywhere near your DNA. They simply do not do that," Schaffner said.
The technology uses messenger RNA to instruct the body to create a protein from the coronavirus to stimulate an immune response. It doesn't alter a person's genes.
What to watch: Vaccine makers say the technology is beginning to be applied in other areas of research, such as advancements in rare diseases, cystic fibrosis, and cytomegalovirus (CMV), as well as oncology.
If enacted, the state laws "could hinder important research and limit patient access to innovative treatments, potentially delaying life-changing medical advancements," Moderna, another mRNA vaccine manufacturer, said in a statement to Axios.
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