Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who led the push for more than 20 years, confirmed the move on Saturday, blasting federal health agencies for allowing a known neurotoxin to be injected into pregnant women and children for decades.
In a detailed video statement, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that thimerosal, a mercury based preservative still found in flu shots given to children and pregnant women, has now been fully banned in the United States.
“I’m proud to finally deliver on a long-overdue promise: protecting our most vulnerable from unnecessary mercury exposure,” Kennedy posted on X.
Thimerosal, a compound whose main ingredient is ethylmercury, had been used for decades as a preservative in multi-dose vaccine vials. According to Kennedy, the CDC shockingly continued to permit its use in flu shots given to pregnant women and children, despite overwhelming evidence of its neurotoxicity.
Kennedy cited peer-reviewed studies and official government documentation identifying thimerosal as a neurotoxin, carcinogen, mutagen, and reproductive toxicant. “The amount of ethylmercury in the flu shot that CDC just banned under my order is 25,000 times the EPA’s safety level for drinking water,” he said.
Kennedy also slammed federal agencies, accusing them of turning a blind eye to the science for decades. He pointed to a 2001 admission by FDA official William Egan, who testified under oath before Congress that thimerosal’s safety had never been studied in humans.
A subsequent study found that this highly toxic mercury remains in the brain for over 27 years. Kennedy cited a CDC-funded 2017 study linking flu shots during pregnancy to miscarriage, which found the odds of miscarriage within 28 days were 7.7 times higher for women who received the vaccine. He also referenced a 2017 study published in JAMA that reported an elevated risk of autism spectrum disorders in children whose mothers received a flu shot during the first trimester.
“Why were we injecting this toxin into babies and pregnant women?” Kennedy asked. “Federal and state laws classify expired thimerosal vaccines as hazardous waste. Yet they were good enough to put into your bloodstream?”
Despite intense pressure and smears from the pharmaceutical industry and its media allies—many of whom labeled him an “anti-vaxxer”—Kennedy never backed down. “I’ve spent 20 years trying to get mercury out of vaccines,” he declared. “I spent four years trying to get mercury out of fish, and nobody called me anti-fish.”
Kennedy framed the decision as the beginning of a reform movement to restore public trust in federal health agencies, crediting President Trump’s leadership in “remaking FDA and CDC” into watchdogs for the people.
The newly adopted CDC recommendation, approved in June and formally enacted last week, ends the use of thimerosal in all vaccines. Kennedy stressed that flu shots will remain available in mercury-free, single-dose formats. Manufacturers have already confirmed their capacity to meet demand without toxic preservatives.
He called on global health bodies, particularly the World Health Organization and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, to end the use of mercury-based preservatives in vaccines administered to babies in developing countries. “We urge the World Health Organization and GAVI to stop their programs of injecting mercury into more than 100 million Black and brown babies in developing countries annually,” Kennedy stated.
The call comes just weeks after the Gates Foundation pledged $1.6 billion to GAVI, a global vaccine initiative that says it helps immunize children in poor countries. Gates, a longtime vaccine advocate and former associate of Jeffrey Epstein, blamed Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for U.S. foreign aid cuts, claiming the reductions will cause “millions of more deaths.” Last month, he even accused Musk of “killing the world’s poorest children” through his efforts to eliminate wasteful spending.
Kennedy’s breakthrough marks a decisive turning point in the battle for medical transparency and bodily autonomy.
“This decision sends a clear message,” Kennedy concluded. “The days of ignoring the science are over. The days of putting profits ahead of people are over.”
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