RFK Jr.'s vaccine advisers raise disproven fears about the preservative thimerosal

New committee members Dr. Robert Malone, left, and Dr. Joseph Hibbeln during nan first gathering of nan CDC's Advisory Committee On Immunization Practices astatine nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention successful Atlanta, Ga. Ben Hendren/Bloomberg/Getty Images hide caption

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Ben Hendren/Bloomberg/Getty Images

An influential committee that shapes U.S. vaccine argumentation – a flashpoint nether nan activity of Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – has recommended that adults and children nary longer person flu vaccines containing trace amounts of a preservative that's seldom utilized anymore.

The chat of thimerosal, a shape of mercury that's sometimes added to vaccines for sterilization, dominated overmuch of Thursday's nationalist gathering of nan Advisory Committee connected Immunization Practices, aliases ACIP. The committee guides nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention connected nan vaccine schedule for children and adults.

The two-day gathering astatine CDC office successful Atlanta was unusually high-profile, fixed Kennedy's caller determination to footwear nan full committee of experts a fewer weeks agone and switch them pinch his ain hand-picked roster, which included immoderate members with a history of making inaccurate claims astir nan information of vaccines.

While ACIP typically includes 17 voting members, Kennedy's overhauled sheet only included 7 of them, pursuing a last-minute determination by 1 of them to measurement down.

On Thursday, a mostly of nan sheet voted to reaffirm nan existing CDC recommendations that anyone complete six months person nan yearly flu shot. They besides voted 5-2 successful favour of a monoclonal antibody changeable made by Merck that offers protection against respiratory syncytial virus, aliases RSV, for infants younger than 8 months.

But successful 3 abstracted votes nan committee voted to urge children, pregnant women and each adults person single-dose flu immunizations pinch vaccines that don't person thimerosal.

Theories that nan chemic could origin autism successful children person long been disproven. Even so, manufacturers voluntarily removed it from puerility vaccines. While it's utilized in immoderate multi-dose vials successful respective products, location are nary vaccines connected nan pediatric vaccine schedule that incorporate thimerosal.

The ACIP votes could efficaciously prohibition usage of nan preservative, contempt a preponderance of grounds that it is safe.

Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics astatine Dartmouth College, was nan only ACIP personnel who voted against those recommendations.

"Of each nan issues that ACIP needs to attraction on, this is not a large issue," he said. "The consequence from influenza is truthful overmuch greater than nan non-existent, arsenic acold arsenic we know, consequence from thimerosal."

He added: "There is nary technological grounds that thimerosal has caused a problem."

Meissner's comments came successful consequence to a lengthy position connected nan preservative from Lyn Redwood, a caregiver and erstwhile president of Children's Health Defense, nan anti-vaccine defense group that Kennedy founded and led for galore years.

"Removing a known neurotoxin from being injected into our astir susceptible organization is simply a bully spot to commencement pinch making America patient again," she told nan committee.

Much of what Redwood said astir thimerosal was undercut by a CDC document that had been primitively posted pinch nan gathering materials — and past without mentation removed up of nan meeting. It elaborate peer-reviewed lit showing "no relation betwixt prenatal vulnerability to thimerosal-containing vaccinations and autism spectrum upset successful children."

In consequence to a mobility astir why nan archive had been taken down, Dr. Robert Malone, an ACIP member, said his knowing was that it had not been "authorized by nan Office of nan Secretary."

Members of nan committee questioned nan analyses provided by CDC, and wondered whether they were ignoring information connected adverse events that showed up successful narration to nan studies they presented, moreover aft nan unit explained they had parsed nan information thoroughly.

Prominent aesculapian groups welcomed nan recommendations connected flu and RSV, but expressed interest astir nan wide reside of nan meeting.

Dr. Sean O'Leary, who chairs nan Committee connected Infectious Diseases for nan American Academy of Pediatrics, said nan ACIP chat connected influenza and RSV "confirmed that this is an orchestrated effort to sow distrust successful immunizations and nan vaccine support process."

While nan personification serving arsenic CDC head would typically motion disconnected connected ACIP recommendations, location is nary 1 successful nan domiciled currently, truthful nan work for signing disconnected connected these recommendations spell to Health Secretary Kennedy.