As the federal government prepares for the next meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has intensified his attacks on aluminum vaccine components used in many shots to boost the body’s immune response.
Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist before seeking public office, claims that aluminum adjuvants are neurotoxic and tied to autism, asthma, autoimmune disease, and food allergies.
But science and medicine advances a different view. Strong recommendations that parents introduce peanut-containing foods to infants early, for instance, have led to a drop in the incidence rate of peanut allergies.
Since taking office, Kennedy has ordered reviews of vaccine ingredients, citing aluminum as a top concern. A discussion of “adjuvants and contaminants” is on the vaccine advisory panel’s draft agenda.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webpage that for years has assured the public vaccines do not cause autism was updated Nov. 19 with new language stating that studies have not definitively ruled out a link between vaccines and autism.
He has also targeted scientists who have published studies showing aluminum adjuvants are safe. In August, Kennedy denounced a large Danish study finding no link between aluminum in vaccines and childhood disease, calling it a “deceitful propaganda stunt” and demanding its retraction. The Annals of Internal Medicine rejected the claim and refused to retract the study.
And, regarding the upcoming advisory panel meeting, HHS spokesperson Emily HIlliard said ACIP “is independently reviewing the full body of evidence on adjuvants and other vaccine components to ensure the highest safety standards.”
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The stakes are high because Kennedy’s push to cast doubt on aluminum isn’t just about the ingredient itself. It’s part of a broader strategy to foster uncertainty about vaccine safety and lay the groundwork to challenge the National Va …