FRIDAY, June 27, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A U.S. vaccine advisory panel voted Thursday to stop recommending flu shots that contain thimerosal, a move that experts say may reduce access to vaccines without making them any safer.
The vote came from a newly appointed group of people that now make up the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), led by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The decision shows just how vaccine critics are beginning to shape official U.S. policy, public health officials told The Washington Post.
"What they did today is what Secretary Kennedy appointed them to do, which is review the evidence, debate it with scientific rigor, and deliver recommendations rooted in data and medical integrity. The public deserves nothing but this," HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said.
However, many public health experts say the move could reduce vaccine availability in some areas without offering any real safety benefit.
Dr. Cody Meissner, a pediatrician and the only member of the panel to vote no, told The Post that “the risk from influenza is so much greater than the nonexistent, as far as I know, risk from thimerosal.”
Thimerosal has not been used in most flu shots for years. But Kennedy, who founded the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, has pushed to remove it entirely.
He claims the preservative breaks down into a form of mercury that can be harmful — a claim scientists have repeatedly disputed, The Post reported.
The issue hadn't been on the public health agenda in decades, but was added to ACIP’s first meeting under Kennedy’s guidance. The vote came after a presentation by a former leader of Kennedy’s group, who does not have a medical or scientific degree.
In the past, topics like these were reviewed for months by expert work groups before being brought to the panel for a vote.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that supported the safety of thimerosal was prepared before the meeting but was later removed from the agency’s website.
The panel’s early actions are raising concern in the medical community and among health officials. Kennedy recently fired all 17 previous members of ACIP and hired new ones, including known anti-vaccine activists.
This week, the group also said it would review the full childhood vaccine schedule and reexamine hepatitis B shot recommendations, The Post said in a report.
Dr. David Margolius, director of public health in Cleveland, criticized the changes.
“He’s basically opened the door for public health problems that have been dealt with decades ago to come back into the picture,” Margolius said to The Post.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on common vaccine safety questions and concerns.
SOURCE: The Washington Post, June 26, 2025