HHS Secretary RFK Jr. Mandates Placebo-Controlled Trials for New Vaccines

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced a significant policy shift requiring all new vaccines to undergo placebo-controlled trials before licensure.

In a move to enhance vaccine safety and transparency, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has mandated that all new vaccines must undergo placebo-controlled trials. This decision marks a “radical departure from past practices,” according to an HHS spokesperson. The policy aims to address the lack of comprehensive safety data for vaccines currently recommended by the CDC, excluding the COVID vaccine, which were not tested against inert placebos.

The initiative, part of the ‘Making America Healthy Again’ campaign, underscores a commitment to understanding the true risk profiles of vaccines. Placebo testing, a common practice for new pathogens, involves administering dummy injections like saline shots to volunteers. However, this method has sparked ethical debates among health experts, especially when effective vaccines already exist. The World Health Organization and other health bodies have noted that placebo controls might be ethically justified in scenarios where vaccine supplies are limited or under investigation.

HHS has also criticized the CDC’s current vaccine surveillance systems, claiming they fail to adequately monitor and report vaccine complications. The spokesperson highlighted the inefficacy of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), stating that these systems capture less than 1% of vaccine injuries and are “designed to fail.”

Secretary Kennedy Jr. emphasized the need for transparency and accountability in vaccine safety testing. HHS is now focused on building new surveillance systems to accurately measure both the risks and benefits of vaccines, ensuring that the public is fully informed about the safety of medical products.