Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn emphasized his opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine at his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ rally with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Lahn has long highlighted his support for the MAHA movement spearheaded by Kennedy at the federal level, which he says centers around his positions on healthy food, clean water, and safe medications.
The candidate, who is running against Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election, said his top priority as governor ‘is to clean up our water and to stop the cancer crisis in the state of Iowa.’ But he also said there are many other health-related proposals he supports as a candidate – including restrictions on the availability of certain vaccines.
‘Even with fake news here, I’m going to say this: The fight to pull the COVID vaccine off the market is a pro-life issue,’ Lahn said.
Lahn has brought up several policies related to vaccines on the campaign trail – including his pledge to ban the COVID-19 vaccine if elected governor. He has also said he would scale back vaccine requirements for children to attend school.
During a primary-season debate hosted by Moms for Liberty, Lahn said he would ban mRNA vaccines in Iowa. The ban discussed in January was about gene-based vaccines that use nucleic acids like messenger RNA – mRNA – to create proteins and trigger an immune response.
There has been ongoing research on mRNA vaccines for decades, but the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna were the first mRNA vaccines to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.
While reviews of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have found the doses were safe and effective, there has been persistent skepticism about the effectiveness and potential adverse health risks caused by these vaccines.
The Iowa Democratic Party held a news conference Wednesday where Dana Drochner, a breast cancer survivor, said addressing Iowa’s cancer crisis requires leaders to continue research and development on mRNA vaccines and other medical treatments.
‘I benefited from new medical treatments, and there’s more and more that are being developed every day, such as the mRNA vaccines,’ Drochner said. ‘I feel like all treatments should be up for consideration to fight this disease because it’s a very difficult issue, and we should not leave any possible option untouched in this fight.’
Speaking to reporters, Lahn said his comment during the primary season was specifically about the COVID-19 vaccine. Speaking with reporters at the rally, Lahn did not clarify whether he would support banning other mRNA vaccines that could receive FDA approval in the future – but he did say he would support Iowans accessing mRNA therapies developed to treat cancer, genetic disorders, and infectious diseases.
‘Now they’re looking at other interventions – which are therapies – that could help treat cancer,’ Lahn said. ‘I think those are great. If they’re promising, great. We need them in the state for sure. But those are very individualized interventions. It’s not a mass-produced product like a vaccine would be. It’s a therapy, and I support them.’
But Lahn said during his speech that he believes there is reason to mistrust medical experts.
‘I believe wholeheartedly that during COVID the veil was lifted, that we saw firsthand what the medical establishment was willing to do to collude with the government to gain power,’ Lahn said. ‘And let me just be very clear about this: The medical establishment has completely lost our trust and has done nothing to earn it back. They have not.’
There were several speakers who spoke before Lahn and Kennedy that brought up their concerns about vaccinations. Iowa Rep. Bill Gustoff, R
