Influenza vaccine(Seqirus GmbH)

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has endorsed a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee recommendation banning the use of thimerosal in all vaccines in the U.S. RFK Jr. and other anti-vaccine activists have said that the preservative, which contains mercury, can cause autism, while studies have shown no link. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has signed off on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee recommendation to remove the preservative thimerosal from all flu shots distributed in the U.S.Thimerosal, which contains mercury, has been used in vaccines for nearly a century to prevent fungal or bacterial contamination after one dose has been drawn from a multidose vial.In 1999, the HHS, the American Academy of Pediatrics and vaccine manufacturers agreed that thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure. Two years later, the U.S. recommended that children age 6 and younger not receive vaccines that contain thimerosal.Anti-vaccine activists have claimed that the preservative can cause autism, though multiple studies, including one by the CDC in 2010, have shown that there is no link.Last month, RFK Jr.’s revamped Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended against the use of thimerosal in flu shots. In three separate rounds of voting, the ACIP advised that children, pregnant women and adults should not receive vaccines that contain thimerosal. Each of the votes were 5-1 in favor of removing thimerosal from vaccines, with one committee member abstaining.“After more than two decades of delay, this action fulfills a long-overdue promise to protect our most vulnerable populations from unnecessary mercury exposure,” RFK Jr. said in a release. “Injecting any amount of mercury into children when safe, mercury-free alternatives exist defies common sense and public health responsibility. Today, we put safety first.”Most companies have already removed the preservative from their vaccines. The exceptions are Sanofi, which produces multidose vials of Fluzone in addition to single-dose syringes, and CSL Seqirus, which includes thimerosal in its multidose vials of Afluria and Flucelvax. Each of these flu shots include a 0.01% concentration of thimerosal.“We acknowledge the recommendation of the new (ACIP),” a Sanofi spokesperson said in a brief statement. “We will have sufficient supply of Sanofi flu vaccine to support customer preference for this season.”Meanwhile, a spokesperson from CSL Seqirus said that “delivery of our thimerosal-free flu vaccines for the upcoming season is already underway and we don't expect the ACIP recommendation to have any impact on our vaccine supply or shipment timings." Both companies have said that they provide many more flu shots in single-dose syringes, which don’t contain thimerosal, than they do in multidose vials.Last month, during the ACIP meeting, Tracy Beth Hoeg, M.D., Ph.D., of the FDA, told the committee that fewer than 5% of the flu vaccines administered in the 2024-25 season contained thimerosal.While the decision does not have a major impact on the industry, it does raise concern about the influence of RFK Jr. and his hand-picked panel of ACIP experts, many of whom have expressed anti-vaccine views. Early last month, RFK Jr. dismissed all 17 previous members of the committee. In placing the lone dissenting vote in the ACIP meeting, Cody Meissner, M.D., of Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, said the "risk from influenza is so much greater than the nonexistent—as far as we know—risk from thimerosal."“I would hate for a person not to receive the influenza vaccine because the only available preparation contains thimerosal. I find that very hard to justify,” Meissner added.Meanwhile, with his decision, RFK Jr. urged "global health authorities to follow this prudent example for the protection of children worldwide."

Bengaluru: U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s newly revamped vaccine advisory panel voted on Thursday to recommend Americans receive seasonal influenza shots that are free from the mercury-based preservative thimerosal despite decades of studies showing no related safety issues. Thimerosal is only used in multi-dose vials of flu shots in the U.S. In the 2024-25 flu season, fewer than 5% of the flu shots administered were from such vials, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Anti-vaccine groups have for decades linked thimerosal to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, and Kennedy wrote a book in 2014 in which he advocated for "the immediate removal of mercury" from vaccines. In recent days, Kennedy has posted on X about its alleged dangers. The FDA on its website says "there was no evidence that thimerosal in vaccines was dangerous," and that the decision to remove it previously was a precautionary measure to decrease overall exposure to mercury among young infants. Multi-dose forms of CSL's Afluria and Flucelvax as well as Sanofi's Fluzone use thimerosal as a preservative, according to the FDA's website. Sanofi said it will have sufficient supply of its flu vaccine to support customer preference for this season. CSL said it supplies a very low number of multi-dose vials of flu vaccine in response to demand. CDC staff, in a report that was briefly published and then removed from the meeting's online document site, concluded that evidence does not support an association between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders. Panel member Dr. Robert Malone said the directive to remove the staff report came from Kennedy's office. The panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, voted 5-1 in three separate votes to recommend thimerosal-free shots. The now 7-person panel was installed by Kennedy earlier this month after he fired all 17 previous ACIP outside experts. The panel advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on who should take specific vaccines and related products and when they should be given after FDA approval. It typically meets three times a year and intends to conduct its next meeting in the third quarter, CDC said. "The risk from influenza is so much greater than the nonexistent - as far as we know - risk from thimerosal. So I would hate for a person not to receive the influenza vaccine because the only available preparation contains thimerosal," Dr. Cody Meissner, the only panel member who voted against the recommendation, said in explaining his vote. 'A FARCE' Lyn Redwood, formerly of the Kennedy-founded anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense, gave the presentation on thimerosal, arguing that it was a neurotoxin. Redwood's presentation posted on the CDC's website earlier this week initially included a reference to a study that does not exist. The report she gave to the committee was significantly shorter, removing a slide that made a reference to that study and another saying she did not have any conflicts of interest. "With the vote on thimerosal this afternoon, the new committee has turned the ACIP process into a farce," said former CDC vaccine adviser Dr. Fiona Havers, who resigned last week over Kennedy's changes to vaccine policy. She said it is unprecedented to have an outside speaker present and then move immediately to a vote. Evidence is usually compiled formally by CDC and reviewed by a work group. She noted that CDC experts did not present their data publicly to refute Redwood. CBS and The New York Times have reported that the agency hired Redwood to work in its vaccine safety office. An HHS spokesman declined to comment on whether Redwood had been hired by the CDC. Earlier on Thursday, the committee voted 5-2 to recommend use of Merck's recently approved RSV antibody drug Enflonsia for infants 8 months or younger whose mothers did not receive a preventive shot during pregnancy. ACIP panel member Retsef Levi raised safety concerns about the antibody drug, which were addressed by experts at the FDA and CDC. He said he would be concerned about giving the product to one of his healthy children and was one of the two votes against the recommendation. The panel's recommendations need to be adopted by either the CDC director or the Health and Human Services Secretary before becoming final. There is currently no CDC director. President Donald Trump's nominee for the post, Susan Monarez, spoke to a Senate committee yesterday as part of the confirmation process. (Reporting by Michael Erman in New York and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago, Christy Santhosh and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru, Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Frances Kerry and Bill Berkrot)