How are energy investors positioned?
Investing.com -- The United States will stop distributing all influenza vaccines containing the mercury-based preservative thimerosal, following a decision by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
This policy change comes after a vaccine panel with members selected by Kennedy voted last month to recommend Americans receive seasonal flu shots free from thimerosal, despite decades of scientific evidence showing no safety concerns with the preservative.
During the last flu season, approximately 5% of flu shots administered in the U.S. were from multi-dose vials containing thimerosal, a preservative that had been largely phased out of vaccines decades ago.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that Kennedy had accepted the panel’s recommendation. This decision was made without the typical sign-off from the CDC director, who usually implements such recommendations.
Anti-vaccine groups have long claimed thimerosal is linked to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Kennedy himself authored a book in 2014 advocating for "the immediate removal of mercury" from vaccines.
The FDA states on its website that "there was no evidence that thimerosal in vaccines was dangerous," noting that its previous removal was a precautionary measure to reduce overall mercury exposure in young infants.
One dissenting panelist had argued that the risk of skipping influenza vaccination due to thimerosal concerns outweighed any known risks from the preservative itself.
According to the FDA’s website, affected vaccines include CSL (OTC:CSLLY)’s Afluria, Flucelvax, and Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)’s Fluzone, which all contain thimerosal in their multi-dose versions.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.