TUESDAY, Jan. 21, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is awarding the pharmaceutical company Moderna $590 million to continue developing a vaccine to protect against bird flu.

Houston Park and John Knox, trained firefighters, are also in line for roles helping oversee the nation’s emergency preparedness and response.

The government wants Moderna to push forward with various bird flu vaccines as well as mRNA shots for other influenza strains with pandemic potential.

The US Department of Health and Human Services will award $590 million to Moderna to continue developing a vaccine to protect against bird flu, the pharmaceutical company announced Friday.

HHS formally debarred EcoHealth Alliance Inc. and its former president Dr. Peter Daszak for allegedly failing to report dangerous gain-of-function research in China.

HHS determined that a five-year period of debarment for the Manhattan-based nonprofit and Daszak was “necessary to protect the Federal Government’s business interests,” according to a letter sent

According to biographies posted to the department’s website Monday, Alicia Rouault is the department’s new associate deputy assistant secretary for technology policy and chief technology officer, Kristen Honey is the department’s chief data officer, and Meghan Dierks is the chief artificial intelligence officer.

AI is safe and trustworthy when deployed in healthcare. The plan emphasizes technical assistance for under-resourced organizations and workforce training initiatives.

President-elect Donald Trump's transition team reportedly tapped a former senior health official from the president-elect's first term and a friend to top Trump loyalists to be Robert F. Kennedy Jr's chief of staff.

Georgia officials halted all in-state poultry sales, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $590 million to Moderna to develop vaccines to protect people from flu strains in bird

Moderna has been awarded approximately $590 million from the federal government to help speed up the development of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine, alongside other influenza vaccines, health officials announced Friday.

The funding, which follows the $176 million the government awarded Moderna in June 2024, aims to get mRNA vaccines ready before bird flu strains currently circulating in the wild and on farms can potentially cause human outbreaks.