The former anti-vaccine group’s child health defense leader will be announced this week at Thimerosal on the flu vaccine thimerosal at a meeting of newly appointed vaccine advisors with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to a CDC official with knowledge of decisions not permitted to reveal information, the book is announced this week at Thimerosal on the flu vaccine thimerosal.
Presenter Lyn Redwood is a nurse with experience in pediatric and family medicine, and according to Bio, posted on the Children’s Health Defense website, she points out that she is the organization’s president. She previously served as chairman of the World Mercury Project in 2016, but was founded two years later by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services in the United States, “expanding its mission” to “expand its mission.”
Thimerosal is a preservative used in vaccines to prevent microbial growth, but it was removed from most shots decades ago due to concerns that it contained mercury forms. Subsequent studies showed thimerosal containing ethylmercury, a form that was cleared from the body much more rapidly than the type of methylmercury found in some fish – not related to neurodevelopmental issues, including autism. Nevertheless, it has become an important focus for groups like Children’s Health Defense, claiming that the vaccine is linked to autism.
Added discussions and votes at this week’s meeting on the flu vaccine thimeromonal — which is still included in several multi-dose vial formats — sparked concern from the public health community that those exposed links will be raised again after Kennedy rejected all 17 former members of the Immunology Practice Advisory Committee and replaced them with eight new members. Two of the new members served as expert witnesses in trials against vaccine makers, and the third claim was against evidence that the Covid-19 vaccine contributed to the death of young people.
Most influenza vaccines given to children are currently offered in single dose vials or pre-filled syringes without thimeromonkeys. Some multi-dosed vials, which account for about 4% of influenza vaccines given in the US, still contain it.
Experts said they found it inexplicable to include topics in the ACIP agenda.
“Anyway, I don’t really know the practice of pediatric practices using that multi-dose influenza vaccine,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, a pediatrician at a Children’s Hospital and a pediatrician with ACIP for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Redwood’s scheduled presentation to the CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee is rare. Presenters are usually members of the ACIP Working Group, who spent several months gathering and discussing evidence on a particular topic. Voting for Thimerosal was added a few days ago, but it is not clear what the discussion and vote on the flu vaccine Thimerosal entails.
Contacted by phone, Redwood declined to comment on her upcoming presentation.
The history of Redwood vaccines appears to be thoroughly intertwined with concerns about the safety of thimeromonal and their links to neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. In 1999, Redwood from the Children’s Health Defense Notes “calculated that her son received 125 times the EPA federal safety guidelines for safe mercury exposure from infant vaccines, resulting in autism diagnosis.” Redwood then co-authored the paper and testified before Congress on the issue.
Redwood is one of the “mercury moms” that Kennedy pushed to be involved in Mercury and her child’s health. Children’s Health Defense has described its mission as “ends childhood health epidemics by eliminating toxic exposures,” and recently hosted an event called “Autism Concealment,” which was billed for revealing exposure to the CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other vaccines and autism links. Redwood was a speaker at Thimerosal.
The CDC states that data from multiple studies “provides no evidence of harm caused by low doses of thimeromonkeys in the vaccine.” Nevertheless, the use of thimerosal in vaccines has been significantly reduced since the US Food and Drug Administration asked vaccine manufacturers for details on their plans to remove it. The FDA now states, “All vaccines that are routinely recommended for children under the age of six in the United States are available in thimeromonal-free formulations.”
