US health advisers appointed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have recommended against flu vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative. This vote's practical impact is minimal, as most US flu vaccines lack thimerosal, having been removed from childhood vaccines in 2001. Nonetheless, this recommendation resonates deeply with the anti-vaccine movement and raises concerns about public trust in vaccines. Experts argue that thimerosal poses low risk, and some view this decision as anti-scientific, potentially fueling public confusion about vaccine safety.
The vote's practical effects in the United States are limited, because most US flu vaccine doses are already free of thimerosal.
Public-health officials and scientists said that the vote's symbolic effects are powerful as they struggle to maintain public confidence in vaccines.
It was an anti-science recommendation, says Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center, emphasizing thimerosal's low risk.
The decision came during the first meeting of the newly chosen Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Collection
[
|
...
]