U.S. Panel Stops Recommending Flu Shots Containing a Preservative Type

DLHA Staff writer

US Advisory panel to stop recommending influenza vaccines (flu shots) containing thimerosal as preservative

FRIDAY, June 27, 2025. - In a move that experts say may reduce access to vaccines without making them any safer, a U.S. vaccine advisory panel voted Thursday to stop recommending multi-dose seasonal influenza vaccine shots that contain thimerosal as a preservative. The vote came from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s newly appointed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

The decision shows just how vaccine skeptics are now shaping official U.S. policy as many public health experts say the move could reduce vaccine availability in some areas without offering any real safety benefit.

"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, Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, in Hanover, New Hampshire and the only member of the panel to vote no, is quoted by The Guardian as saying that “the risk from influenza is so much greater than the nonexistent, as far as I know, risk from thimerosal.” She added, “I would hate for a person not to receive the influenza vaccine because the only availability preparation contains thimerosal – I find that very hard to justify.”

Thimerosal has not been used in most flu shots for years as precautionary measure rather than from any scientific evidence of harm. But Kennedy, who founded the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, has pushed to remove it entirely.

Kennedy claims the preservative breaks down into a form of mercury that can be harmful, but scientists worldwide have repeatedly disputed the claim.

What the Recommendation Means to African Countries

As most African countries are yet to manufacture adequate quantities of vaccines in-country and place reliance on importation form abroad, the advisory panel's recommendation is likely to reduce the local availability of influenza (flu) and other thimerosal containing vaccines, as supply pipe-line dries up in the countries that manufacture them. Many more African children and adults may be expected to die from vaccine preventable diseases.

About Seasonal Influenza

According to the World Health Organization, seasonal influenza, or “flu”, is an acute upper respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses. It is common in all parts of the world, including in sub-Saharan African countries - especially during cold or rainy seasons. Influenza spreads easily between people when they cough or sneeze.

Symptoms of influenza include acute onset of fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and fatigue. Most people recover without treatment and vaccination is the best way to prevent the disease.

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Published: June 28, 2025

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