By Mark R. O’Brian
Vaccinations provide significant protection for the public against infectious diseases and substantially reduce health care costs. Therefore, it is noteworthy that President-elect Donald Trump wants Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading critic of childhood vaccination, to be secretary of Health and Human Services.
Doctors, scientists and public health researchers have expressed concerns that Kennedy would turn his views into policies that could undermine public health. As a case in point, news reports have highlighted how Kennedy’s lawyer, Aaron Siri, has in recent years petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to withdraw or suspend approval of numerous vaccines over alleged safety concerns.
I am a biochemist and molecular biologist studying the roles microbes play in health and disease. I also teach medical students and am interested in how the public understands science.
Here are some facts about vaccines that Kennedy and Siri get wrong:
Vaccines are effective and safe
Public health data from 1974 to the present conclude that vaccines have saved at least 154 million lives worldwide over the past 50 years. Vaccines are also continually monitored for safety in the U.S.
Nevertheless, the false claim that vaccines cause autism persists despite study after study of large populations throughout the world showing no causal link between them.
Claims about the dangers of vaccines often come from misrepresenting scientific research papers. In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Kennedy incorrectly cited studies allegedly showing vaccines cause massive brain inflammation in laboratory monkeys, and that the hepatitis B vaccine increases autism rates in children by over 1,000-fold compared with unvaccinated kids. Those studies make no such claims.
In the same interview, Kennedy also made the unusual claim that a 2002 vaccine study included a control group of children 6 months of age and younger who were fed mercury-contaminated tuna sandwiches. No sandwiches are mentioned in that study.
Similarly, Siri filed a petition in 2022 to withdraw approval of a polio vaccine based on alleged safety concerns. The vaccine in question is made from an inactivated form of the polio virus, which is safer than the previously used live attenuated vaccine. The inactivated vaccine is made from polio virus cultured in the Vero cell line, a type of cell that researchers have been safely using for various medical applications since 1962. While the petition uses provocative language comparing this cell line to cancer cells, it does not claim that it causes cancer.
Elena Zaretskaya/Moment via Getty Images
Vaccines undergo the same approval process as other drugs
Clinical trials for vaccines and other drugs are blinded, randomized and placebo-controlled studies. For a vaccine trial, this means that participants are randomly divided into one group that receives the vaccine and a second group that receives a placebo saline solution. The researchers carrying out the study, and sometimes the participants themselves, do not know who has received the vaccine or the placebo until the study has finished. This eliminates bias.
Results are published in the public domain. For example, vaccine trial data for COVID-19, human papilloma virus, rotavirus and hepatitis B are available for anyone to access.
Aluminum adjuvants help boost immunity
Kennedy is co-counsel with a law firm that is suing the pharmaceutical company Merck based in part on the unfounded assertion that the aluminum in one of its vaccines causes neurological disease. Aluminum is added to many vaccines as an adjuvant to strengthen the body’s immune response to the vaccine, thereby enhancing the body’s defense against the targeted microbe.
The law firm’s claim is based on a 2020 report showing that brain tissue from some patients with Alzheimer’s disease, autism and multiple sclerosis have elevated levels of aluminum. The authors of that study do not assert that vaccines are the source of the aluminum, and vaccines are unlikely to be the culprit.
Notably, the brain samples analyzed in that study were from 47- to 105-year-old patients. Most people are exposed to aluminum primarily through their diets, and aluminum is eliminated from the body within days. Therefore, aluminum exposure from childhood vaccines is not expected to persist in those patients.
Ironically, Kennedy’s lawyer, Siri, wants the FDA to withdraw some vaccines for containing less aluminum than stated by the manufacturer.
Vaccine manufacturers are liable for injury or death
Kennedy’s lawsuit against Merck contradicts his insistence that vaccine manufacturers are fully immune from litigation.
His claim is based on an incorrect interpretation of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, or VICP. The VICP is a no-fault federal program created to reduce frivolous lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers, which threaten to cause vaccine shortages and a resurgence of vaccine-preventable disease.
A person claiming injury from a vaccine can petition the U.S. Court of Federal Claims through the VICP for monetary compensation. If the VICP petition is denied, the claimant can then sue the vaccine manufacturer.
Andreas Ren Photography Germany/Image Source via Getty Images
The majority of cases resolved under the VICP end in a negotiated settlement between parties without establishing that a vaccine was the cause of the claimed injury. Kennedy and his law firm have incorrectly used the payouts under the VICP to assert that vaccines are unsafe.
The VICP gets the vaccine manufacturer off the hook only if it has complied with all requirements of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and exercised due care. It does not protect the vaccine maker from claims of fraud or withholding information regarding the safety or efficacy of the vaccine during its development or after approval.
Good nutrition and sanitation are not substitutes for vaccination
Kennedy asserts that populations with adequate nutrition do not need vaccines to avoid infectious diseases. While it is clear that improvements in nutrition, sanitation, water treatment, food safety and public health measures have played important roles in reducing deaths and severe complications from infectious diseases, these factors do not eliminate the need for vaccines.
After World War II, the U.S. was a wealthy nation with substantial health-related infrastructure. Yet, Americans reported an average of 1 million cases per year of now-preventable infectious diseases.
Vaccines introduced or expanded in the 1950s and 1960s against diseases like diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, polio, mumps, rubella and Haemophilus influenza B have resulted in the near or complete eradication of those diseases.
It’s easy to forget why many infectious diseases are rarely encountered today: The success of vaccines does not always tell its own story. RFK Jr.’s potential ascent to the role of secretary of Health and Human Services will offer up ample opportunities to retell this story and counter misinformation.
Mark R. O’Brian is Professor and Chair of Biochemistry at the University at Buffalo.
Barbara Maloney says
I would hope you would look for opposing points of view from accredited PHD’s or qualified researchers. And publish those as well. There are a significant number out now that may disagree with the opinion you published. While Kennedy may have mis-spoken some information he was recalling from memory, it certainly is not disinformation as the headline suggests. From my own research, it would appear those we relied upon to safeguard and verify the science were themselves mislead or did not safeguard our interests as we thought.
Tom Hutson says
RFK disinformation
Don’t waste your time trying to make sense out of this wack job! He had worms in the brain, he fits the mold for Big Daddy Warbucks who wanted to put bleach as a vaccine for Covid. I really feel sorry for young Americans with young children with these nut cases who want to take vaccines away from young children (polio, smallpox, Covid, etc) for serious preventable diseases. The only GREAT redemption, we as Americans can look forward to the countdown from 1,460 days starting Monday! Thank you! They will be gone for good! Oh, by the way, all these reds want to blame Dr. Fauci for all the ills for the Covid and the vaccines; how in the world are you going to explain away RFK and Big Daddy Warbucks!
David schaefer says
So true this guy is a nut case he needs to be shipped to Russia Putin would love him.
Atwp says
Doug you are right. Will the change be bad or good? Time will tell.
Jon t says
Brother in law was fine no issues, took covid vaccination, dead 10 days later! So all you Waggy liberal nut jobs can be quiet!
Ed P says
All 50 states and D.C have laws requiring certain vaccines for students to attend school.
RFK Js says he will to take away anyone’s decision to vaccinate. Senate confirmation will cause an uproar.
Personal choice is better than mandated. Questioning status quo can be good. Has anyone read the book- if it ain’t Broke,Break it?
Here’s an example how a government institution can get it wrong on occasion.
J. Edgar Hoover made his career fighting a perceived threat of communism. 5 decades, an expert? He saw Martin Luther King Jr as a communist threat.
Point being, if the lenses you look though are Red, you see red.
Nothing wrong with questioning status quo and seeking improvements.
Mark Webb says
Sadly, MOST people didn’t even bother to vote.
Lets all sit back and enjoy all the changes you and others voted for here in Palm Coast.
I hope you injoy the bright red house next door.
BillC says
@Doug Whatever you do, please make sure you don’t get any vaccinations and avoid fluoride in your water. The answer is hydroxychloroquine for whatever ails ‘ya.
Laurel says
RFK, and his lawyer Siri, need to mind their own damned business, and let the development of vaccines for those of us who want to use them. Cannot believe he will be in charge of our health! More crazy town to come.
President Franklin Roosevelt had polio while in office, and it was hidden from the public. A vaccine was developed, and in the 1950’s, we lined up in school and drank the vaccine from a tiny, paper cup, three days in a row. Thank goodness! The vast majority of us was spared the crippling disease. Though I believe in healthy foods, that wasn’t the reason we avoided polio, the vaccine was.
haggatha may says
Compare the number of vaccines given to children from birth to school age back in the 40’s through the 80’s, for example,
to the numbers now given from birth forward. Compare the numbers of cases of autism, allergies to formerly generally tolerated foods like gluten, nuts, milk, etc., attention deficit, sexual disfunction, retardation, and childhood cancer from then to now. Something is definitely affecting the later generations and I don’t think you can blame this on climate change
@ Jon t…..I also lost a perfectly healthy daughter (a hematologist) who refused the covid vaccine until the governor of the state in which she lived cave in to Fauci and the CDC mandates that medical personnel be vaccinated in order to practice. She suffered a terrible reaction and 3 months later was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer.
Judith G. Michaud says
When I was about 5 or 6 years old, my aunt took me to visit a friend of hers who’s child had polio and was in an iron lung! I was so horrified to see this child about my age in this “big tank” with only his head sticking out! I have memories of my childhood, but I have to say this was by far the worse and it sticks in mind to this day! That being said, please people do not listen to the nut case Kennedy and protect yourself and your family! Science knows more than the politicians, especially with what is coming in the next 4 years !
Joe D says
For Doug:
No Doug, the information presented in this article is certainly NOT BULL**it!
As a Masters prepared Clinical Nurse Specialist and a Certified Nurse Case Manager retired from a major east coast university teaching hospital with 43 years of Nursing experience, I’ve read numerous PEER REVIEWED medical research on the SAFETY and EFFICACY (that means proven effectiveness), of these challenged vaccines. Peer Review means the study has been looked at by experts in the clinical field related to the study. They look at the way the study was conducted: how the subjects were chosen, how they were tested, how were variations controlled for?
The reviews were based on FACTS and not MEDIA HYPE!
The current concern is about the use of Fluoride in community water supplies to protect from dental cavities. Studies have been published suggesting that people exposed to fluoride have a higher chance of developing neurological disorders.
What the MEDIA doesn’t generally say is that in that study, the subjects were exposed to a fluoride level that was 3 x higher ( in parts per million) than what the fluoride level put in community water supplies ! Those community water levels, never showed any of the side effects mentioned in the study.
For another example: at an approved/tested administered level of antibiotics can save lives
However at 300% the therapeutic level, the same antibiotic can cause liver and kidney damage.
And Doug….as to your statement that voters wanted change?
Yes, voters will get a change all right…but unfortunately not the change they were expecting!
Bobby says
I take medical advise from my Doctor not someone that was a drug attack and is a has worms in his brain.
Tired of it says
So according to haggatha, vaccines are responsible for autism and a host of other illnesses. No documented proof to support her assertion, whatsoever. Perhaps, all the chemicals food additives that we have been exposed to over the years, may be a more realistic culprit? Perhaps the fact that many of those conditions she mentions were not recognized or reported for years, isa more accurate statement. Yes, some people had reactions to the Covid vaccines, have you read or listened to the side effects listed for some of the currently popular medications advertised on TV, like “may cause death”. I will take my chances with vaccines, any day.
Is it just possible that the daughter has liver cancer long before she was vaccinated? Is it possible that other factors contributed to the liver cancer, suuch as alcohol comsumption? See ? Anybody can speculate
richiesanto says
Dear Ms Mahoney.
As a medical professional who spent 17 years in clinical research, I can assure you that the studies nutzo spoke about to Joe Rogan indicating “brain swelling” and “massive increases in autism” did not state anything of the sort. That can be called “misinformation” or as I like to refer to it: LYING.
The author of this piece is a biochemist and molecular biologist. I am sure some people who are PHDs or just plain laypeople (yourself included) feel they are better qualified to comment on this particular subject. But let me assure you: They (you) ARE NOT. So, stick to what you know (whatever that may be) and let the medical professionals do what they are EXPERTS in. Someone could follow your advice and suffer fatal consequences.
Laurel says
richiesanto: So true! Right now, we have political *leaders* who are irresponsibly spreading misinformation, and intentionally sowing mistrust of our experts and professionals, with little to no conscience, but for personal gain. I’ve never seen it so severe! I am very disappointed in many Americans who prefer rumor over scientific facts. You know money is behind it somewhere, it always is. But, again, the level of irresponsibility is astounding!
Joe D says
For Jon t:
So sorry for the loss of your family member, but there HAS to be more to the story, than JUST a Covid immunization 10 days earlier.
As a Master’s prepared Clinical Nurse Specialist and a Certified Nurse Case Manager at an internationally recognized east coast university teaching hospital with 43 years of nursing experience, there were a few reactions or complications out of MILLIONS of vaccinations.
I covered one of the 6 dedicated COVID units at my hospital in the early days of the pandemic. I literally lost a patient every other day to the complications of the disease…it was heartbreaking for the families, the nurses and the doctors. Before the vaccines were developed, we could only treat the rapid worsening symptoms, and people waited WAY TO LONG to seek medical treatment…once the Covid disease was too far along to respond to the usual treatments.
Not to diminish your loss, but I would think that the death of your family member would be so unusual, that their case would be written up in a medical journal. They would look at his GENERAL state of health PRIOR to receiving the vaccine, any serious medical conditions he had ( heart or respiratory disease, diabetes, obesity, and smoking were the MOST likely illnesses who easily succumbed to Covid infections), which were identified in the early days of COVID. After loosing over a million people to the Covid virus, and watching the death rate almost disappear after widespread immunizations began (except in those vaccine denying populations which kept the virus circulating and mutating in the general public) the general benefits of the Covid vaccine were established.
The vaccines did not prevent Covid at 100%. They did offer 85-95% protection from SERIOUS Covid disease and death. It also takes approximately 2 weeks after a Covid vaccination for the body to trigger it’s resistance to the Covid virus.
I know this is little solace in the loss of your family member, however to say medically PROVEN treatments should be withheld from EVERYONE because of the chance of a reaction, isn’t fair either.
And no, I do not consider myself a “Waggy liberal nut job,” I consider myself a FACT based medical professional…..and I simply WON’T be QUIET! Not when being “quiet” costs thousands of lives lost due to people believing unproven medical OPINIONS, and delaying or refusing medically available appropriate treatments.
Sherry says
@ Joe D. . . Yet again, thank you so very much for your vital service, for sharing your valuable expertise, and for your sage advice!