The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it is developing a universal vaccine platform targeting “pandemic-prone viruses.”
The platform, called Generation Gold Standard, “represents a decisive shift toward transparency, effectiveness, and comprehensive preparedness,” the department said in a news release. The vaccines are intended to “provide broad-spectrum protection against multiple strains of pandemic-prone viruses like H5N1 avian influenza and coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, and MERS-CoV.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement on the development that the department’s “commitment is clear,” noting that “every innovation in vaccine development must be grounded in gold standard science and transparency, and subjected to the highest standards of safety and efficacy testing.”
NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said the program is a “paradigm shift.”
“It extends vaccine protection beyond strain-specific limits and prepares for flu viral threats – not just today’s, but tomorrow’s as well – using traditional vaccine technology brought into the 21st century,” he said.
Where traditional vaccines are designed for specific strains of a virus, the universal program will “preserve the virus’s structural integrity while eliminating infectivity” and claims to offer “long-lasting protection across diverse viral families.”
While pushing the new vaccine program, Kennedy has also terminated a Biden-era contract for the development of an oral COVID-19 vaccine.
Kennedy told Fox News in February that “[w]hile it is crucial that the Department [of] Health and Human Services (HHS) support pandemic preparedness, four years of the Biden administration’s failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production, including Vaxart’s.”
