COVID Research Funding to Be Slashed, NIH Documents Show
By Max Kozlov & Nature magazine
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have started to reduce funding for research related to COVID-19, climate change, and South Africa. According to updated documents obtained by Nature, studies on these topics are among the latest list of terminated grants by the NIH.
The NIH has decided to cancel billions of dollars in funding for COVID-19 research, citing that the pandemic is over and the grant funds are no longer necessary. This decision has raised concerns among scientists who believe that studying the virus, its mode of infection, and the government’s response to the pandemic is crucial in preventing future outbreaks.
Among the terminated grants is a $577 million program aimed at identifying and developing antiviral drugs against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and other types of viruses with pandemic potential. Scientists like Jason McLellan, a structural virologist at the University of Texas, Austin, express their disappointment in the decision, stating that canceling such grants could be detrimental to future pandemic preparedness.
The updated guidance from the NIH includes a list of research activities that the agency no longer supports, including projects related to China, DEI, transgender issues, vaccine hesitancy, South Africa, and climate change. The documents also mention a new category of research that should be terminated based on a list sent by the NIH director or the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The decision to slash funding for COVID-19 research has sparked criticism from scientists who fear that important projects could be terminated without considering their merit. The uncertainty surrounding the future of long-COVID research, including the $1.6 billion RECOVER initiative, has raised concerns among experts who believe that studying the long-term effects of COVID infections is crucial.
The Trump administration’s move to deprioritize long-COVID research has been met with backlash from the scientific community. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Brown University, criticizes the decision, stating that studying how infections lead to chronic diseases is essential for public health preparedness.
In conclusion, the decision to cut funding for COVID research has raised concerns among scientists who believe that studying the virus and its long-term effects is crucial for preventing future pandemics. The impact of these funding cuts on scientific research and public health remains to be seen.
This article was first published on March 26, 2025.
