Enlarge / The Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech) and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. (credit: Getty | Marcos del Mazo )

Two Republican lawmakers in Idaho have introduced a bill that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone in the state to administer mRNA-based vaccines—namely the lifesaving and remarkably safe COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. If passed as written, it would also preemptively ban the use of countless other mRNA vaccines that are now in development, such as shots for RSV , a variety of cancers, HIV, flu, Nipah virus, and cystic fibrosis, among others.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Tammy Nichols of Middleton and Rep. Judy Boyle of Midvale, both staunch conservatives who say that stand for freedom and the right to life. But their bill, HB 154 , proposes that "a person may not provide or administer a vaccine developed using messenger ribonucleic acid [mRNA] technology for use in an individual or any other mammal in this state." If passed into law, anyone administering lifesaving mRNA-based vaccines would be guilty of a misdemeanor, which could result in jail time and/or a fine.

While presenting the bill to the House Health & Welfare Committee last week, Nichols said their anti-mRNA stance stems from the fact that the COVID-19 vaccines were initially allowed under emergency use authorizations (EUAs) from the Food and Drug Administrations, not the agency's full regulatory approval. "We have issues that this was fast-tracked," she told fellow lawmakers, according to reporting from local news outlet KXLY.com .

Enlarge (credit: DeFodi Images )

Moderna's mRNA-based vaccine against RSV (respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-uhl) virus) was effective at preventing disease in older adults, according to preliminary, top-line results of an ongoing phase III clinical trial the company announced Tuesday . Moderna said it will now seek regulatory approval for the vaccine in the first half of this year.

According to the company, the vaccine was 83.7 percent effective at preventing RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease (RSV-LRTD) involving two or more symptoms in adults age 60 and over. It was 82.4 percent effective at preventing RSV-LRTD with three or more symptoms in the same group. No safety concerns were identified.

The findings are another positive sign for mRNA vaccine platforms generally, which Moderna and other pharmaceutical companies have quickly shifted to for fighting various other infections and diseases given the global success of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. mRNA-based vaccines are now in development for everything from seasonal flu to HIV and certain cancers.

Enlarge / Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo speaks at a press conference in Rockledge, Florida, on August 3, 2022. (credit: Getty | SOPA Images )

Epidemiologists and public health experts spent the past weekend collectively shaking their heads at the latest harmful pronouncement from Florida's provocative surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, who on Friday announced that he was recommending against mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines for men ages 18 to 39 .

Ladapo based his recommendation on a dubious analysis , which was posted online by the Florida Department of Health. According to a misleading press release from the department, the analysis found "an 84% increase in the relative incidence of cardiac-related death among males 18-39 years old within 28 days following mRNA vaccination."

The press release says the analysis was carried out by the department, but it was posted as a simple PDF without the health department's official letterhead, and—most strikingly—no authors are listed, which is highly unusual. It has clearly not been peer-reviewed, published in a scientific journal, or even thoroughly edited.

Enlarge / Moderna states that it doesn't want to halt production or distribution of Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine, but it does want to be paid a license for its claimed patents. (credit: Getty Images)

Now that the vaccine race is over and shots are broadly available, Moderna has filed suit against Pfizer and BioNTech, claiming they infringed on Moderna's mRNA patents from 2010-2016.

Moderna, a Massachusetts-based firm, filed suit against New York-based Pfizer and BioNTech in Düsseldorf, Germany, related to the firms' joint Comirnaty vaccine and its similarities to Moderna's Spikevax. Moderna claims in the suit that it doesn't want to halt vaccine production. The suit also doesn't seek damages for sales before March 8, 2022, sales in lower or middle-income AMC 92 nations, or sales where "the US Government would be responsible for any damages."

In a statement announcing the suit , Moderna stated that it expected Pfizer and BioNTech to "respect its intellectual property rights" and "consider a commercially reasonable license" to sell vaccines outside those accepted conditions, but the firms failed to do so.

Enlarge / Boxes of Johnson & Johnson's Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Florida. (credit: Getty | Paul Hennessy )

The US Food and Drug Administration limited the use of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine late Thursday, citing the risk of a very rare but severe clotting disorder, called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

From now on, the J&J vaccine is only to be used in people ages 18 and up who are unable or unwilling to receive an alternative COVID-19 vaccine. That includes people who have had a life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, people who have personal concerns about mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and would otherwise not get vaccinated, and people who don't have access to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

The limitation comes as the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been closely monitoring people who received J&J COVID-19 vaccinations for TTS. To date, the agencies have identified and confirmed 60 cases of TTS linked to the vaccine, including nine deaths. That represents a rate of 3.23 TTS cases per million doses of J&J vaccine administered, and a rate of 0.48 TTS deaths per million doses of vaccine administered, the FDA said Thursday.