June 24 (Reuters) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted a report Tuesday on Tuesday that it doesn’t support the link between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders ahead of the two-day advisory committee meeting later this week.
The report was posted on the agency’s website on Tuesday, along with several presentations and final agenda for the meeting scheduled for June 25th and 26th.
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Last week, a draft meeting agenda was published, indicating that two new issues had been added for discussion: thimeromonkeys in flu shots, measles, mumps, rubella and water cell shots.
Lynn Redwood, a former anti-vaccine group’s child health defense leader, will give a presentation on the flu vaccine, which includes the preservative thimerosal, at a meeting Thursday.
The Redwood presentation includes a review of the use of Thimerosal over the last century, claiming why it was not effective as a preservative.
The summary of the presentation suggested that there was sufficient thimerosal-free flu vaccine and that all pregnant women, infants and children should only receive shots of them. It was not clear whether the new advisory committee would be asked to vote for such a move.
CDC briefing materials posted Tuesday reviewed several studies on neurodevelopmental outcomes and vaccines, including timerosal, which has long been used in vials of drugs and vaccines in the United States.
According to the CDC report, 96% of all influenza vaccines in the US were free of charge during the 2024-25 flu season. He added that the number of pregnant women who received the flu vaccine, including thimeromonkey, has been decreasing over time, with only 0.3% of doses given in 2024 containing thimeromonkeys.
Kennedy, who has a long history of establishing Children’s Health Defense and poses a long history of questioning vaccine safety against scientific evidence, wrote a book in 2014 claiming that Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, causes brain damage.
Senator Patty Murray, a senior member and former chairman of the Help Committee, is calling for the revival of fired panel members or delay meetings until new members are properly reviewed.
Reported by Christy Santosz, Banvi Satya and Sune SK of Bengaluru. Edited by Sriraj Kalluvila, Shailesh Kuber and Shinjini Ganguli
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