US vaccine policy creates ‘huge opportunity’ for Europe

 

US vaccine policy creates ‘huge opportunity’ for Europe

 

Novel mRNA technology is one area where Europe could lead.

 

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr (R) speaks as US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Florida, U.S. on Oct. 23, 2026. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

October 30, 2026 6:17 pm CET

By Claudia Chiappa

https://www.politico.eu/article/us-vaccine-policy-creates-huge-opportunity-for-europe/

 

U.S. research cuts and vaccine skepticism have delivered Europe an opportunity to establish itself as a leader in science — especially developing in immunizations.

That’s particularly true for innovative technologies like mRNA — scientists’ latest vaccine discovery first used in the Covid-19 shots.

Since taking office in January 2025, the Trump administration has slashed funding for the National Institutes of Health, repeatedly suggested a link between vaccines and autism, canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for mRNA vaccine research and overhauled a committee of vaccine experts.

This allowed Europe to siphon researchers and vaccines developers and champion its medicines regulator for it steadfast scientific positions.

“I see a huge opportunity for the [European Medicines Agency] to become more of a key reference for countries,” said Heidi Larson, professor of anthropology, risk and decision science at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and founding director of the Vaccine Confidence Project.

“They’re an incredibly valuable asset for Europe and, in the current environment, [they] could play an even more important global role,” she told POLITICO.

The European Medicines Agency — the European Union’s drugs regulator — has long positioned itself as a trustworthy beacon of science.

“We can provide fact-based, neutral information” to vaccine and drug developers, EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke told journalists Wednesday during an event at its office in Amsterdam. “We want to be there ... as a source of trusted information that you can rely on.”

The mRNA opportunity

Novel mRNA technology is one area where Europe could lead.

The Trump administration canceled some $500 million in grants and contracts dedicated to mRNA research and development last year.

“We reviewed the science, listened to the experts and acted,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at the time. The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority terminated 22 mRNA vaccine development investments “because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu,” he said. Funding would shift toward “safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate,” Kennedy added.

For researchers and developers, however, this sent a signal.

A researcher works on an mRNA transcription reaction in Orleans, France on Nov. 18, 2025. | Jean-Francois Monier/AFP via Getty Images

“Some of the policies being promoted [by the U.S.] are just not reliable,” said Larson, who is also founding director of the Vaccine Confidence Project. “Public decisions like not funding mRNA sends a signal that they don’t trust it,” she added.

“You have a vacuum created by the U.S. right now,” said Sibilia Quilici, head of industry lobby Vaccines Europe. “Europe, especially EMA, has already communicated … that they are welcoming the mRNA innovation happening here in Europe.”

Some developers are already choosing Europe for their work.

“We are seeing developers increasingly come to EMA first, particularly in areas such as mRNA technology, because they trust our scientific approach and our ability to engage with innovative technologies,” Marco Cavaleri, head of public health threats at the EMA, told POLITICO. “[The] EMA has become an important reference point globally for regulatory science.”

The EU was the first market globally to authorize Moderna’s combination Covid-19 and influenza shot this year. In the U.S., Moderna faced setbacks after the Food and Drug Administration asked for more data for its flu shot.

The market gap

But being a scientific powerhouse is not enough.

“Obviously, the U.S. remains a huge market, and Europe needs to keep working to attract innovation,” Cavaleri said.

Despite its commitment to supporting biotechnology innovation, Europe is still grappling with a fragmented market, pricing and reimbursement challenges and unstable manufacturing capacities.

This year alone, German biotech BioNTech announced it was closing its Covid-19 vaccines manufacturing sites in Germany, slashing one-fifth of its workforce, or up to 1,800 jobs, and British pharmaceutical company GSK said it was shutting a vaccine factory in Germany.

“mRNA is a crucial technology platform for vaccines that we must have the capacity to produce in Europe at all costs,” said Renew MEP Stine Bosse, who is pushing to ensure technology platforms such as mRNA are eligible for more incentives under the Biotech Act.

Europe has “strong regulatory systems,” said Quilici, with the EMA and national medicines authorities “doing fantastic work in ensuring rigorous and evidence-based review of any technologies, any products.”

The new EU Biotech Act also recognizes the importance of the sector, including vaccine developers, she said.

But funding remains Europe’s “weakest point,” Quilici said. “Should Europe decide to invest seriously in its immunization innovation, manufacturing and access, it has a unique opportunity to gain a competitive edge.”

 

This Is How MAHA Ends

 

Newsletter

Jessica Grose

This Is How MAHA Ends

Oct. 31, 2026

Credit...Illustration by The New York Times

By Jessica Grose

Opinion Writer

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/31/opinion/doctor-democrats-midterms.html

 

“My name is Dr. Annie Andrews, and for almost two decades, I’ve been a pediatrician in South Carolina. Parents trust me to treat their kids for just about everything you can imagine.” That’s how Andrews, who is the Democratic nominee for the Senate in South Carolina, launched herself into the race.

In a lab coat, with a stethoscope slung around her neck, she goes on in the campaign video to talk about the damage that the Trump administration has wrought on Americans’ physical well-being. She describes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the head of Health and Human Services, as “the vaccine-denying brain worm guy” who “is gutting our nation’s health care system.”

Andrews is not the only prominent medical professional running as a Democrat in Tuesday’s election. Amy Acton, who is running for governor in Ohio, is a physician and a former director of the Ohio Department of Health. Though the vile attack ad run by her opponent Vivek Ramaswamy put Acton in the national spotlight, this ad distracts from her public health expertise and her commitment to health care affordability, which have been pillars of her campaign.

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Michigan who is an epidemiologist, has crowds chanting about Medicare for All, which he literally co-wrote the book about even as he has to defend himself against bigoted smears about Arab scientists from Kennedy.

According to The Hill, seven doctors who are not incumbents are running for Congress as Democrats, along with 14 nurses. If all the doctors running as Democrats win office, they will meaningfully shift the balance of physicians in both the Senate and the House away from Republicans. That means Democrats with medical expertise will have more of a say in confirming health-related officials, will vote for more progressive health care policies and will create viral moments arguing with ignorant Trump administration officials during hearings on medical issues.

But I think these doctors, if they can eke out victories in tight races, are poised to do something bigger: They can reclaim the mantle of health and wellness as a winning issue for Democrats.

Though Kennedy pulled off a feat of great marketing with his Make America Healthy Again movement, MAHA never represented a majority of Americans who care about health. While trust in public health, and in President Joe Biden and the Democrats especially, took a drubbing in the aftermath of the pandemic, it simply isn’t true that Americans ever trusted Republicans to have the answers for what ails us.

MAHA’s canny marketing — a symbiotic relationship with grass-roots “crunchy mama” influencers who spent years spreading bad information — was a shiny object that distracted from the truth that Democrats have been the more trusted party on this topic in the recent past. Ahead of the 2022 midterms, when the Covid mitigation backlash was arguably at its peak, a Reuters/Ipsos survey found that “more Americans believe Democrats are stronger on Covid-19.” Two years later, KFF, a nonprofit health policy research organization, did polling during the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. On every health care policy measure, it found that Americans trusted Biden more than they trusted Donald Trump.

The only health care issue on which Trump polled close to Biden in 2024 had to do with the expense of care: 38 percent of Americans trusted Biden to “address high health care costs” versus 36 percent who trusted Trump and 27 percent who trusted neither.

 

Trump embraced Kennedy and MAHA because it was politically convenient, and the president does seem to have some bizarre and deeply held beliefs about vaccines and the effects of Tylenol during pregnancy. But outside those convictions, Trump has never seemed to care much about clean air, clean water or providing health care to all Americans regardless of income or job status.

Millions have lost access to health care under Trump’s watch. MAHA stalwarts, like Calley Means, a former senior adviser to Kennedy, are starting to defect, reportedly because of the administration’s lack of progress on food policy.

Republicans appear to have frittered away Americans’ trust on health care costs completely in the past two years. According to a survey published earlier this month, “About twice as many voters say they trust the Democrats over the Republicans on the cost of health care.” It is hard not to conclude that the Trump administration’s promise to restore trust in public health has also been a flop. A poll conducted by Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the de Beaumont Foundation published earlier this year found that “only 50 percent of U.S. adults say they trust health recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.), compared with 77 percent in spring 2025.”

Republicans, Democrats and independents overwhelmingly still trust their own doctors. By leading with their experience as physicians and public health champions, candidates like Andrews, Acton and El-Sayed have an opportunity to start the long process of rebuilding America’s federal public health system.

If these candidates prevail, they have the expertise and authority to actually hold Kennedy to account for many of the disastrous decisions that he has made, and continues to make. Just this week, Kennedy put forth, against the advice of the administration’s scientists, a plan to bypass the Food and Drug Administration and give Americans access to a wide array of unproven peptides.

Of all the physician candidates running, Andrews might be the most effective antidote to MAHA. When she’s out of her white coat, she looks and sounds exactly like all the anti-vaccine influencer moms I see on my feed whose support made Kennedy who he is today. A 40-something mom of three, with perfectly styled blond hair and an approachable demeanor, she seems to relish going after Kennedy. On Instagram she posts memes showing the White House’s East Wing in shambles, suggesting that this is what Kennedy has done to America’s public health system.

In her launch video, Andrews talked about how the National Institutes of Health cut funding to study childhood cancer because of Trump administration malfeasance, and that gun violence is no longer classified as a public health crisis. “I also just happen to be someone who isn’t afraid of a fight,” Andrews said.

I want to see that fight on the Senate floor.

---

End Notes

• I have been watching “The One About Matthew Perry,” the new Netflix documentary series about the life and death of the “Friends” star. Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, is prominently featured, and she speaks so beautifully about her brother, his triumphs and how painful it was to watch him succumb to drug addiction. It’s worth watching, not just if you are a fan of Perry’s, but also as a sensitive portrait of a talented man whose success and financial security ultimately could not save him.

Feel free to drop me a line about anything here.

Jessica Grose is an Opinion writer for The Times, covering family, religion, education, culture and the way we live now. 

 

Riot police respond in The Hague amid chaotic "Gen. Z" riots; At least 10 arrested

 

Riot police respond in The Hague amid chaotic "Gen. Z" riots; At least 10 arrested

Saturday, 31 October 2026 - 15:55

https://nltimes.nl/2026/10/31/riot-police-respond-hague-amid-chaotic-gen-z-riots-least-10-arrested

 

Riot police are intervening on Korte Voorhout in The Hague because groups of youths are not complying with police orders, De Telegraaf reports. At least 10 people have been reported to be arrested.

 

Calls for “Gen. Z protests” in several Dutch cities have been circulating on social media. In response, some stores in cities, including The Hague, boarded up their storefronts.

 

On Korte Voorhout, police have repeatedly asked people to go to the Malieveld, but some are refusing to comply. Malieveld, where such actions are usually held, is also full of protestors. Firework explosion sounds can be heard coming from there, De Telegraaf reported.

 

Police are checking those present on Malieveld for weapons and other prohibited items. Many police officers are present, including at the nearby tram stop. A small group of boys aged 12, 13 and 16 openly admitted to De Telegraaf that they came to riot.

 

 

Police are also present in large numbers in Maastricht. Protests had been announced there for before 2 p.m., but according to De Telegraaf’s photographer, there were no demonstrations on the square at the time.

 

In several other major cities it remains calm on Saturday afternoon, despite social media calls for protest. In the centers of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht, no large groups have gathered to riot. Unlike in The Hague, no stores have been boarded up in Rotterdam.

Italy Sees Nationwide Protests: Angry Crowd Clash With Police Over Over Rising Living Cost

Germany on Edge! Gen Z Hurls Stones and Fireworks as Police Unleash Water Cannons | APT

Sky News reports from heart of Paris protest as violence flares

 

Tusk defends overhaul of Poland’s constitutional court despite protests

 

Tusk defends overhaul of Poland’s constitutional court despite protests

 

Prime minister says shake-up is vital to restore tribunal crippled by years of political disputes

 

Jakub Krupa

Sat 31 Oct 2026 23.43 CET

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/31/donald-tusk-defends-overhaul-poland-constitutional-court-despite-protests

 

Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has vowed to see through a contested overhaul of the country’s constitutional court, declaring that “in certain matters, there can be no compromise”.

In a prime-time television address on Saturday night, Tusk was defiant, despite overnight protests that saw riot police drafted to protect the court’s building, saying the shake-up was vital to restore a tribunal crippled by years of political disputes.

 

Paralysed for more than a decade, the court sat at the core of rule of law clashes between the rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party and the EU during the party’s eight-year rule.

Since returning to office in 2023, the centre-right Tusk has sought to unwind those judicial changes, but his agenda has been frustrated by opposition-aligned presidents with extensive veto powers. Earlier this year, president Karol Nawrocki refused to swear in five judges approved by parliament.

The crisis flared again on Friday when a group of government-backed judges attempted to seize procedural control of the tribunal, suspending the PiS-appointed chief judge and deputy and prompting street protests.

View image in fullscreen

Conservative supporters assemble outside the constitutional court in Warsaw. Photograph: Agata Grzybowska/Anadolu/Getty Images

Defending the action, Tusk said “there was never any doubt that the court in the form imposed by PiS was not a genuine court,” citing adverse rulings from European tribunals.

 

He compared the opposition outrage to “a thief snatching an elderly woman’s handbag, running off, and when he is caught, he screams that he is subjected to violence.”

Tusk said: “Lets call things for what they are: for years, there have been organisations and politicians in Poland who seek to destroy democracy and the rule of law. “It is no coincidence they find support among pro-Russian forces globally.”

He later highlighted that Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev had joined the opposition in outcry over the changes, accusing Warsaw of “a constitutional coup” and “hounding the conservatives”. “And everything is clear,” Tusk said.

He also criticised opposition-aligned Nawrocki for joining the protests Friday night and forcing his entry into the court’s building to intervene. “In a democratic state, no politician can enter a court to issue orders or intimidate judges – not even the president,” Tusk said. “We Poles have succeeded too well in building a strong state to surrender now.”

He said it was the government’s duty to ensure its security and the conditions necessary for the court to operate. “And I intend to fulfil that duty,” he said.

The confrontation sets the battle lines before next year’s parliamentary election, with polls pointing to a close race between Tusk’s broad coalition and the nationalist right.

However, experts remain divided over whether the government’s procedural gambit at the court is lawful.

Poland’s Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights said on Saturday the legal basis for the temporary suspension was “questionable”, warning it would “not contribute” to restoring the court.

The foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, conceded that the events outside the court were “not elegant”, but insisted: “The alternative was to concede an unconstitutional transformation of Poland into a presidential republic.”

Nawrocki held some cross-party political talks on Saturday, with no apparent breakthrough. His senior aide, Zbigniew Bogucki, responded to Tusk’s address, calling the prime minister “a pathological liar, who is setting Poland ablaze”.