“All new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure — a radical departure from past practices,” an HHS spokesperson told The Washington Post in response to questions about Kennedy’s comments on the measles vaccines and general vaccine policy.
Vaccines for new pathogens are often tested this way. But for well-researched diseases, such as measles and polio, public health experts say it makes little sense to do that and can be unethical, because the placebo group would not receive a known effective intervention.
HHS did not clarify how the change will be implemented and for which vaccines the testing would apply, nor did it define what the department meant by “new vaccine.” But the government indicated it wouldn’t apply to the flu vaccine, which is updated year to year and which HHS stated “has been tried and tested for more than 80 years.” In response to questions about whether other vaccines previously safety tested would be newly scrutinized, the department focused on its concerns around the coronavirus vaccine but did not address other immunizations.
Kennedy has long disparaged vaccines, said they are not adequately safety tested and previously called for placebo testing for vaccines that are approved for use.
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