A US advisory panel recommended against the use of flu vaccines containing a certain preservative despite scientific evidence showing it is safe.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr — a vaccine skeptic who has authored a book on the supposed dangers of the mercury-containing ingredient thimerosal — fired all experts on the panel two weeks ago and appointed new ones, at least half of whom harbor concerns about vaccines, The New York Times reported.
The thimerosal decision will have little practical impact — few US vaccines, and none given to children, contain the compound. But scientists said that the move will further dent already falling public confidence in vaccines: “What this does is sow mistrust,” one told Nature.
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