RFK Jr. to remove controversial ingredient from all flu vaccines in the US

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: USA Today

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed a controversial recommendation July 23 from a vaccine panel that advised removing thimerosal from all influenza vaccines.

Thimerosal is a preservative that has largely been phased out of U.S. vaccines and has long been targeted by anti-vaccine advocates despite broad scientific consensus on its safety.

The call against thimerosal was first presented by Lyn Redwood, former leader of Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy, during a June 26 meeting for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

During the meeting, ACIP members voted against recommending certain vaccines to contain thimerosal, despite widespread disapproval from the medical community.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/rfk-jr-remove-controversial-ingredient-150840803.html

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Doctors' opinions overridden by an ex-junkie brain worm.

[Turbineguy]

1. Like raw milk?

Raw vaccine.

[OKIsItJustMe]

39. CDC: Thimerosal and Vaccines

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/about/thimerosal.html

Thimerosal and Vaccines

For Everyone
DECEMBER 19, 2024

KEY POINTS

• Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative that has been used for decades in the United States in multi-dose vials (vials containing more than one dose) of medicines and vaccines.
• There is no evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site.
• In July 1999, the Public Health Service agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and vaccine manufacturers agreed that thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure.

Overview
About thimerosal
Mercury is a naturally occurring element found in the earth's crust, air, soil, and water. Two types of mercury to which people may be exposed — methylmercury and ethylmercury — are very different.

Methylmercury is the type of mercury found in certain kinds of fish. At high exposure levels methylmercury can be toxic to people. In the United States, federal guidelines keep as much methylmercury as possible out of the environment and food, but over a lifetime, everyone is exposed to some methylmercury.

Thimerosal contains ethylmercury, which is cleared from the human body more quickly than methylmercury, and is therefore less likely to cause any harm.

Purpose of thimerosal
Thimerosal is added to vials of vaccine that contain more than one dose (multi-dose vials) to prevent growth of germs, like bacteria and fungi.

Introduction of bacteria and fungi has the potential to occur when a syringe needle enters a vial as a vaccine is being prepared for administration. Contamination by germs in a vaccine could cause severe local reactions, serious illness or death. In some vaccines, preservatives, including thimerosal, are added during the manufacturing process to prevent germ growth.

…

[usedtobedemgurl]

2. Most vaccines do not have this.

[reACTIONary]

7. Mass vacination campaigns rely on multi dose units....

.... which are made possible by thimerosal. Prohibiting thimerosal complicates and increases the expense of mass vacation campaigns, which - needlessly - erodes public health efforts.

This is a regressive step for public health.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

18. 10 doses per vial

I would think that in a mass vaccination campaign, they would go through vials pretty quickly.

The UK has banned thimerosal for years, so not sure how big an impact it would really have.

[usedtobedemgurl]

23. Ok. Sorry.

I was just going by what I have read in the past and in the above OP, where it said most have been phased out. With my brain injury, sometimes I do not undsrstand.

[womanofthehills]

28. 94% of flu shots are mercury free

So it should not affect mass vaccination.

Single doses are better on many levels - because if a pharmacist doesn’t shake the multidose flu vials just right or forgets to shake it between patients - different amts of ingredients can be injected into people - too much shaking and bubbles can be injected. Also, no one wants an infant to be injected with mercury just because some pharmacy is too cheap to buy single dose vials.

[Eliot Rosewater]

3. Just the beginning, he's going to get rid of all vaccines eventually and make it

Extremely hard to get any in the meantime, if something drastic doesn’t change very soon I don’t expect to survive the winter.

[FakeNoose]

10. In my opinion, Bob Kennedy will be one of the first of Chump's appointees to get fired

I think it will happen this year too. Remember Chump's first term, when he'd fired almost half of his staff and Cabinet in the first year? It's going to happen again. Anyone who grabs the limelight, says controversial things, or makes mistakes ... they'll be gone by the end of the year. Chump can't admit an error or handle any kind of blame, so it always gets dumped on subordinates.

[reACTIONary]

4. Every year where I work we have a mass flu vaccination campaign.....

... We vaccinate over a thousand employees.

Thimerosal makes this possible, because it allows multiple doses in the same container. Without it, we would need over a thousand single dose units, and more time per injection.

I hope we can continue our mass vaccination campaigns despite this unnecessary cost and complication.

[womanofthehills]

29. Only 6% of flu vaccines have mercury

- so it should have very little effect. Most people don’t even know a small percentage of flu vaccines still have mercury and I have yet to meet someone who would get a vaccine with mercury if they knew they could get a mercury free vaccine.

Trouble with multi dose - the needle doesn’t always draw up equal amounts of vaccine. The person who gets the first dose might have a totally different amt of ingredients than the one who pulls the last dose.

[TheRickles]

5. Thimerosal contains mercury - no way is that good for our health.

And even if only a small percentage of vaccines still use it, the ideal % would be zero. Similar to mercury in dental fillings - amalgam is now being replaced by resin composites. Safer substitutes are available for both vaccines and fillings, so we should use them (apart from what you think of RFK Jr's other policies).

[reACTIONary]

9. Nothing that acts as a preservative...

. .. is "good for our health" - in large quantities. In small quantities preservatives are good for our health because they kill pathogens.

The amount of mercury in a flu shot is about the same as in a serving of salmon. I guess salmon is bad for our health.

Mass vacination campaigns rely on multi dose units, which are made possible by thimerosal. Prohibiting thimerosal complicates and increases the expense of mass vacation campaigns, which - needlessly - erodes public health efforts.

This is a regressive step for public health.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

15. Worm Brain is going to ban salmon next,

followed by tuna fish and mercury thermometers. After that he'll go after mercury vapor lights, X-Men mutant Mercury, and the planet Mercury.

Thank god we've got a man looking after our public health who is not a physician or scientist, and whose only qualifications for the job are his family name and absolute fealty to the least qualified individual to ever sit in the Oval Office.

I guess all the experience he's had with LSD, cocaine and heroin has to count for something.

I'm still trying to understand how someone who plead guilty to a felony (heroin possession) was able to get a security clearance.

[womanofthehills]

33. Mercury is a toxin

Fish is methyl mercury and vaccines ethyl

Methyl’s half life is 50 days. Many believed ethyl left the body quicker but studies on autopsied monkeys showed in was in their brains. So lots of conflicting info out there on this. Meanwhile-

Consumer Reports definitely recommending not to eat Abacore tuna as it’s a larger tuna and has way more mercury than smaller tuna Many cans they tested had mercury levels higher than government limits. Some not recommended for human consumption.

[chernabogg]

11. JFC, you sound ridiculous

Please look up the difference between ethylmercury and methylmercury.
Also, please tell me you are pushing for everyone to stop eating fish.

[womanofthehills]

34. The studies Kennedy says he's going by

Everyone believed ethyl mercury was safer than methyl mercury because they could still find methyl mercury in blood up to 100 days - after a week studies said they could find no ethyl mercury in blood. But some recent studies said when they tested both mercury’s on monkeys - both had both types in their brains.

“There was a much higher proportion of inorganic Hg in the brain of thimerosal monkeys than in the brains of MeHg monkeys (up to 71% vs. 10%). Absolute inorganic Hg concentrations in the brains of the thimerosal-exposed monkeys were approximately twice that of the MeHg monkeys. Interestingly, the inorganic fraction in the kidneys of the same cohort of monkeys was also significantly higher after im thimerosal than after oral MeHg exposure (0.71 ± 0.04 vs. 0.40 ± 0.03). This suggests that the dealkylation of ethylmercury is much more extensive than that of MeHg.”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1280342/

Consumer Reports recommends avoiding Abacore tuna as some cans they tested had mercury way over gov limits. Some Abacore was not recommended for anyone to eat.

Abacore is the largest tuna so it has the most mercury. Other tunas they recommend not eating more than once a week.

[NH Ethylene]

21. I agree, And if this is what it takes to restore the public's trust, it's worth the inconvenience.

RFK Jr may be a nutcase, but I support what he is doing when it comes to pushing changes that other countries have already made. We have been held back on health initiatives because of the profit concerns of big corporations.

[TiberiusB]

26. Nope

Dental amalgams contain elemental mercury. Ethyl mercury is what's in Thimerasol. The amount is miniscule and does not stay in the body nearly as long as Methylmercury.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/about/thimerosal.html

[womanofthehills]

35. Wrong according to many new studies

It’s left the blood to be stored in the brain. These are the studies Kennedy is referring to.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1280342/

[NickB79]

44. "New" being a study from 2005?

20 years old 🤦

[TiberiusB]

45. That's not quite right

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1280342/

The concentration in the brain was for inorganic Hg, which is not the organic form which is the more concerning form. The brain concentrations are noted as being high, but the actual effect of that is not known other than a high number of microglia cells (immune system) being present. The other measures for ethyl mercury confirm that it clears the system far more quickly the methlymercury, even in the brain, save for the questions about the inorganic form. I'm fine with more research, but I tend to doubt that any research reference by RFKjr is being quoted properly.

Total Hg derived from im thimerosal is cleared from the infant M. fascicularis much more quickly than MeHg. The washout T1/2 of total blood Hg after im injections of thimerosal in vaccines is much shorter than the T1/2 of MeHg (6.9 vs. 19.1 days).

A much lower brain concentration of total Hg was observed in the thimerosal monkeys compared with the MeHg monkeys, that is, a 3- to 4-fold difference for an equivalent exposure of Hg. Moreover, total Hg is cleared much more rapidly from the brain after thimerosal than after MeHg exposure (24 vs. 60 days).

Absolute inorganic Hg concentrations in the brains of the thimerosal-exposed monkeys were approximately twice that of the MeHg monkeys. Interestingly, the inorganic fraction in the kidneys of the same cohort of monkeys was also significantly higher after im thimerosal than after oral MeHg exposure (0.71 ± 0.04 vs. 0.40 ± 0.03). This suggests that the dealkylation of ethylmercury is much more extensive than that of MeHg.

Previous reports have indicated that the dealkylation of Hg is a detoxification process that helps to protect the central nervous system (Magos 2003; Magos et al. 1985).

[NickB79]

32. There's more in a can of tuna

And if you live anywhere near a coal fired power plant? Good luck.

It's like avoiding apples because there's a tiny amount of cyanide in the seed.

[womanofthehills]

36. The two different types of mercury are stored differently in the brain

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1280342/

[NickB79]

42. Yes. The type of mercury in tuna and coal is the dangerous one

The type in vaccines has been proven safe and easily excreted, as is evidenced by the fact that, 20 yr after we stopped using it, there has been no drop in autism rates or chronic diseases.

Of course, that makes sense since you're quoting a 20 yr old article. The question it asked then has been answered.

[3catwoman3]

6. Flu vaccines are available in two formulations -

- single dose, pre-filled syringes
- multidose vials

Only the multidose vials contain the preservative, IIRC.

[reACTIONary]

17. Mass vaccination efforts....

Mass vacination campaigns rely on multi dose units, which are made possible by thimerosal. Prohibiting thimerosal complicates and increases the expense of mass vacation campaigns, which - needlessly - erodes public health efforts.

This is a regressive step for public health.

[womanofthehills]

37. And - 96% of flu vaccines are single vial

I can’t believe people are getting upset about taking a heavy metal out of a vaccine.

[progressoid]

8. Now he has to remove the microsoft chip from the Covid vaccine.

[Initech]

12. Ironic that a group called "Children's Health Defense" knows absolutely nothing about children or health.

This is more "violent anti-vaccine propaganda group".

[womanofthehills]

40. Like them or not - Children's Health Defense is run by moms of vaccine injured children

Polly Tommie is director of programming, Molly Holland is the chief executive. CHD was previously called “Wotld Mercury Project” and was instrumental in getting mercury out of childhood vaccinations.

US gov link to NVICP
https://www.hrsa.gov/vaccine-compensation

[NickB79]

43. It's run by moms who CLAIM their children are vaccine injured

This is Polly Tommie:

https://m.imdb.com/name/nm8006328/

The claimed vaccine injury? Autism.

Which has been proven over, and over, and over again, to not be caused by vaccines.

[IbogaProject]

13. Why is a preservative required if a new needle is used each shot?

And the bottle top is wiped with alcohol? I do that all the time with insulin, and this should finish in a much shorter time span.

[reACTIONary]

16. My guess is that...

Last edited Wed Jul 23, 2025, 03:00 PM - Edit history (1)

.... as soon as the seal is pieced, those pesky pathogens can get at it. They might even be on a new needle.

Another factor may be logistics and handling. Single doses used infrequently at a doctor's office can be kept refrigerated. A large number, thousands, of multidose vials for a mass campaign can be shipped without refrigeration, and stored for use without a massive on site refrigeration unit. Reported below that refrigeration is required regardless.

In fact, since there is no reason to forgo the preservative, those advantages could be gained throughout the health system by simply using it for all vials, and forgoing the single dose units. We are wasting public health resources for no good reason. We are doing so based on FUD - irrational fear, uncertainty and doubt.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

19. My understanding...

...is that all flu vaccines have to be refrigerated until they're used, even the multi-dose vials.

[reACTIONary]

20. You are probably right. I was just speculating.

[reACTIONary]

22. I found this..

It is relatively easy to replace, reduce, or eliminate thimerosal as a preservative in single and multi-dose vaccines that are widely used in most industrialised countries. However, multi-dose vials used for vaccinations in the Global South must contain a preservative to prevent vaccine contamination in the absence of refrigeration. The World Health Organization says thimerosal containing multi-dose vaccines are necessary in these countries because single-dose vaccines are more expensive and often require refrigeration.

https://www.env-health.org/IMG/pdf/Mercury_and_vaccines.pdf

Notably, this is from a site that is against Hg in vaccines. But it appears refrigeration is probably standard in developed countries.

[womanofthehills]

41. The single dose units protect against pharmacist mistakes

And what ingredients are drawn up with the first needle might be different than the last needle . Why compromise our health when single vial is safest.

[Owens]

14. So he's taking his own policies from his group

and not listening to doctors? How well did that work out for the people in Texas in the measles outbreak?

[BootinUp]

24. Let the internet sort it out. J/k.

[milestogo]

25. This dimwit has way too much power.

[sboatcar]

27. Seems stupid to me

a few nanograms of thimerosal is less mercury exposure than you get from eating just about any fish, or even breathing the air in some places.

[AnnaLee]

30. Strange

It is strange the support in this country for serial killers.

[Zambero]

31. Antibodies?

What the hell, just make them all placebos!

[Botany]

38. Having a person with limited understanding of what science does stick his nose into a decision about ...

….. virology, immunology, evolutionary biology, and that thing called medicine doesn’t seem
like the smart thing to do. RFK Jr speaks authentic frontier gibberish when it comes to vaccines.

‘cept when he is grifting in with a law firm that makes money suing the makers of vaccines.

[Torchlight]

46. His medical degree from Youtube University is noted

and given all the credibility it in fact, warrants. ...as are his fanclub and pet sealions.