The stability of the U.S. vaccine market rests on an obscure $4 billion fund known as the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., long a critic of the fund, now appears intent on dismantling it.
Vaccine production can be a fickle business. Unlike other pharmaceuticals, designed for the sick, vaccines are meant for healthy people. To meet high safety standards, trials are large and development is costly. But whereas drugmakers typically can price their products to offset such expenses, vaccines are expected to be virtually free for huge populations and often are given just once.
