Kennedy's vaccine panel votes to remove preservative long targeted by activists

[demmiblue]

Source: Politico

If the CDC adopts the recommendation, it will mark one of the first major changes in federal vaccine guidance and access as Kennedy embarks on his goal of remaking immunization policy in his image.

ATLANTA — A panel of vaccine advisers selected by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted Thursday to recommend that no one get a flu vaccine that contains thimerosal — a preservative that has long been a target of the anti-vaccine movement and Kennedy himself.

Five members voted to recommend that no children, pregnant women, or adult get any flu vaccine with thimerosal. If the CDC adopts the recommendation, it will mark one of the first major changes in federal vaccine guidance and access as Kennedy embarks on his goal of remaking immunization policy in his image.

“The risk from influenza is so much greater than the non-existent, as far as we know, risk from thimerosal,” said Dr. Cody Meissner, the only panel member who voted no. “I would hate for a person not to receive the influenza vaccine because the only available preparation is with thimerosal.”

The CDC director usually needs to endorse the recommendations before they are official. But Kennedy will likely be the one to endorse these recommendations because there is currently no CDC director or acting director.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/26/kennedys-vaccine-panel-votes-to-remove-preservative-long-targeted-by-activists-00427590

[JustAnotherGen]

1. These actions

Need to be viewed as crimes against humanity when the regime falls.

[Ilsa]

2. I thought thimerosal had been removed.

Aren't most vaccines in single dose vials to prevent room air contamination or the need for a preservative?

[NH Ethylene]

6. I also thought it had been removed decades ago.

Which I thought was a good idea. It just doesn't seem wise to inject mercury compounds into people's bodies.

From AI:

"Notably, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Japan, and Canada have banned or restricted its use in routine childhood vaccines. In the United States and the European Union, thimerosal has been removed from most childhood vaccines."

So is this a case of passing a law for something that has already been addressed?

[jmowreader]

8. It's only used in multi-dose vials for mass vaccination campaigns

They don't want to have to get rid of a shitload of empty vials when they're doing one of those.

[Ilsa]

10. Thank you. This makes sense. nt

[Silent Type]

3. Somewhat positive-- "RFK Jr.'s CDC vaccine panel backs Merck RSV shot for infants." At least, they are not banning vax.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/26/rfk-jr-cdc-vaccine-panel-backs-merck-rsv-shot-for-infants.html


Yet, anyways.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. The mercury toxic movement was well publicized in the 1990s by those afflicted

Many books were published on the subject, and products and methods containing mercury were changed. HHS published the research during the Clinton Administration. Removing thimerosol is long overdue, though I suspect it would have had more health benefits back then rather than now when so many other reductions have already been made.

[JCMach1]

21. Except the science says different... The anti-vax agenda

They are pursuing will kill people.

That's kinda my bottom line.

[patphil]

7. Thimerosal is a very controversial preservative still used in some vaccines.

I think it should have been banned decades ago.
It's still used in some multi-use vials where a syringe penetrates the septum on the vial more than once, and the possibility for contamination is higher than in single use vials.
Please note, a fresh syringe is used each time, it's the possibility of anything on the septum being brought into the vial as a needle is pushed into the vial multiple times that results in a possibility of contamination, thus the thimerosal preservative.
The most reasonable solution would be to only use single dose vials, eliminating the need for thimerosal altogether.

[womanofthehills]

9. Agree -Single dose flu vaccine has no mercury

Mufti dose flu vaccine contains mercury. Multi dose is way cheaper for the pharmacy so it has always been a good idea to ask for single dose - especially for babies and kids.

Because of its cheaper price, multi dose is given in most poor countries in world.

[reACTIONary]

12. My own thought is....

.... that if thimerosal makes vaccines cheaper and more available, then it should be used.

As far as the "controversy" is concerned, it seems to be rooted in FUD.

[womanofthehills]

13. 91% of our flu vaccines don't have mercury

We are talking about replacing 9% of the 170 million vaccines that are produced annually.

Maybe you are not into mercury but most Americans will not even fill their teeth with it and we are warned by Consumer Reports to limit our consumption of tuna.

America is rich and does not have to make inferior vaccines.

[reACTIONary]

14. We aren't rich because we waste money....

... in what way are vaccines preserved with thimerosal inferior?

[reACTIONary]

15. I read the Consumer Reports article you posted....

https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/how-worried-should-you-be-about-mercury-in-your-tuna-a5041903086/

They conducted tests on a variety of tuna brands... What did they find? That the mercury levels found were all well below the FDA limit.

What the Tuna Industry Says
We reached out to all the companies in our tests and also heard from the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), a trade association that represents canned tuna manufacturers. NFI said that the mercury levels we found were well below the limit that the FDA allows in canned tuna and said these products are safe to consume. StarKist and Chicken of the Sea said their tuna products are monitored for mercury and meet this FDA limit.

Now, if they found mercury levels above the limit, that would be news. But they didn't. They went to a lot of trouble and didn't get the sensational expose they were hoping for. So what did they do, just state the results? Nope, they wrote a lot of blah blah blah promoting fear, uncertainty and doubt.

[patphil]

16. I spent 36 years in the QA/QC section of a large Pharmaceutical Company.

I knew people in R&D, and in QC test development for new drugs. There were people in those groups who were strongly against Thimerosal who I believe knew what they were talking about when they said it shouldn't be in vaccines.
I don't think they were subject to FUD.
If there wasn't a problem, why would they have two formulations for the same vaccine, one for single use vials that don't contain Thimerosal in the vaccine, and one for multiple use vials that contained Thimerosal?

[reACTIONary]

17. Maybe they have two formulation because of....

... FUD.

Did the people you know explain the reason for their belief, other than just express it? I would be interested in some sort of scientific assessment, if you have anything you can share.

[patphil]

18. I've been out of the industry for17 years now. I have no current contact with any of them anymore.

But, I respected their opinions then, and I still do.
The fundamental idea that was the driving force for these people was that if it wasn't needed, don't put it in. Always using single dose vials is a reasonable approach that would end the controversy once and for all.
The only thing driving the use of Thimerosal in a vaccine is profit.

Unfortunately, profit was always the most important part of the process for the Pharmaceutical Industry. I know this from my interactions with the upper management of my company.
Note: My company started out as Lederle, then it became Wyeth, now it's Pfizer. The name changed, but the song remained the same.

[reACTIONary]

19. Up above is a note about ....

... the multidose formulation being used for mass vaccination campaigns. Where I work, we have a mass vaccination campaign every year. Since I'm not concerned about it, I don't know which formulation they use, but if it costs less, is effective and safe, I'm all for using the thimerosal. I'd hate for us to have to suspend the yearly campaign because of the an unnecessary cost.

[maxsolomon]

11. Well I guess he MAHA.

Kennedy can resign now. Please resign, then go away forever.

[Torchlight]

20. Appointing RFK as Secretary of Health was like tossing bait to conspiracists

It's damned unsettling to see his outlandish ideas met with serious nods from sycophants, political appointees, and armchair quarterbacks—but I'll admit it undeniably prompts people to drop their masks and reveal just how deeply they disdain science, even if they don't mean to.

[womanofthehills]

22. Animal studies and ethyl mercury

Thimerosal and Animal Brains: New Data for Assessing Human Ethylmercury Risk

Brain concentrations of total mercury were approximately 3–4 times lower in the thimerosal group than in the methylmercury group, and total mercury cleared more rapidly in the thimerosal group (with a half-life of 24.2 days versus 59.5 days). However, the proportion of inorganic mercury in the brain was much higher in the thimerosal group (21–86% of total mercury) compared to the methylmercury group (6–10%). Brain concentrations of inorganic mercury were approximately twice as high in the thimerosal group compared to the methylmercury group. Inorganic mercury remains in the brain much longer than organic mercury, with an estimated half-life of more than a year. It’s not currently known whether inorganic mercury presents any risk to the developing brain

Given these findings, the researchers caution that risk assessments for thimerosal based on studies using blood mercury measurements may not be valid, depending on the design of the study. Further, the observed differences in distribution and breakdown of mercury compounds between exposed groups indicate that methylmercury is not a suitable model for thimerosal toxicity.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1280369/