RFK Jr. to remove mercury preservative thimerosal from flu shots

The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday said it’ll officially remove the mercury-based preservative thimerosal from all flu shots distributed within the U.S. – despite the fact that there is no such thing as a evidence of harm from the ingredient. 

While few jabs still contain thimerosal, the move eliminates a vaccine option for Americans and is a win for the anti-vaccine movement, which has long targeted the ingredient.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. formally adopted a June suggestion from a key government vaccine panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, against influenza shots containing thimerosal. Earlier that month, Kennedy gutted that panel and restacked it with recent members, including some widely known anti-vaccine activists. 

The choice affects roughly 4% to five% of the U.S. flu vaccine supply. That features some multi-dose types of Sanofi‘s Fluzone and two shots from biotech company CSL Seqirus. The remaining of the nation’s flu shots were thimerosal-free in the course of the last season of the virus, based on CDC data.

Vaccine manufacturers have confirmed that they’ve the capability to interchange multi-dose vials containing mercury, HHS said. That may make sure that the flu vaccine for adults and a government program that gives shots to uninsured and underinsured children won’t be interrupted, the agency added. 

Still, health experts have said that eliminating thimerosal-containing flu shots as an option for Americans may lead to fewer people receiving jabs.

The move also reinforces longstanding, unfounded fears that the substance can result in developmental disabilities, resembling autism. Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism comes full circle with ACIP’s vote: A decade before entering into his current role, he published a book that called for the removal of thimerosal from shots and linked it to developmental disorders.

“After greater than twenty years of delay, this motion fulfills a long-overdue promise to guard our most vulnerable populations from unnecessary mercury exposure,” Kennedy said in a release, urging global health authorities to follow suit. 

Greater than 40 studies over several a long time have found no link between thimerosal and developmental delays. Thimerosal has been widely used for a long time as a preservative to forestall the expansion of harmful bacteria in several medicines and vaccines with multiple doses.

HHS said other recommendations from the panel’s meeting in June are still under review.