US will pay Moderna $176 million to develop an mRNA pandemic flu vaccine

[Infolurker]

Why?

Why would we need to do this when we produce hundreds of millions of flu vaccines a year using conventional "shelf stable" and cheap technology.

Why do we need an expensive gene therapy non shelf stable MRNA bird flu cell hijacker? 

Makes no sense... unless....

US will pay Moderna $176 million to develop an mRNA pandemic flu vaccine

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-p...-111610966

The U.S. government will pay the vaccine maker Moderna $176 million to accelerate development of a pandemic influenza vaccine that could be used to treat bird flu in people, as concern grows about cases in dairy cows across the country, federal officials announced Tuesday.

Moderna already has a bird flu vaccine in very early-stage testing that uses the same mRNA technology that allowed rapid development and rollout of vaccines to protect against COVID-19. The new funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services include continued development of the vaccine, including a late-stage trial next year if those early study results are positive.
But the project can be quicky redirected to target another form of influenza if a different threat than the H5N1 form of bird flu emerges, HHS officials stressed.
The award was made through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, a program that focuses on medical treatments for potential pandemics.
The H5N1 virus was detected earlier this year in dairy cows and has spread to more than 135 herds in 12 states and infected three people to date, all with mild cases. Federal health officials stress that the risk to the wider population remains low.

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

They let to die from anything else, but want to save you from something you don't have. Sounds suspect to me.

I just spent 6 days flat on my back for back pain that came out of nowhere.

I made the painful, and wasted trip to the hospital, to be told, "They don't know what is causing it." "That will be 5 thousand dollars, now get out of my ER."

Not just me, but the same thing happened to 3 other people I know. So the hell with finding cures for medical conditions that don't exist, until you take care of the conditions that do exist.

I am so frustrated, disappointed, and fed up with our medical system. It is in shatters, just like the rest of our social system.

[xuenchen]

Does a recent Supreme Court Ruling make this "illegal" without Congress legislation? 

[Ninurta]

Does a recent Supreme Court Ruling make this "illegal" without Congress legislation? 

Probably not. In this case they are not usurping congressional authority by making law, they are instead distributing money that congress appropriated for them to distribute ad they see fit.

Additionally, no one has sued them over it yet, so "Chevron deference" is not an issue.

.