HHS, RFK Jr. to Require Placebo Trials for All New Vaccines

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to require all new vaccines to undergo placebo testing—a procedure in which some people receive the vaccine and others receive an innocuous substance, like saline, before the results are compared.

The Details: This change marks a departure from past practices. HHS indicated it would not apply to the flu vaccine, which is updated yearly and has been tested for over 80 years. The department focused on its concerns around the COVID-19 vaccine but did not address other previously tested immunizations. 

For Context: Kennedy has a history of vaccine skepticism, claiming they are not adequately safety tested. The HHS said, “Secretary Kennedy is not anti-vaccine — he is pro-safety, pro-transparency, and pro-accountability.” According to the Washington Post (Lean Left bias), “Vaccines for new pathogens are often tested [by placebo]. 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.”

How The Media Covered It: The Washington Post said the recommendation was “alarming health experts” due to risks such as limiting access to vaccines and undermining public trust in immunization. CNN (Lean Left) also highlighted the potential delay in the availability of updated COVID-19 shots due to the requirement of placebo-controlled trials. The National Desk (Right) did not include concerns about Kennedy's decision in its reporting. The Epoch Times (Lean Right) emphasized that vaccines were tested against other vaccines instead of placebos. 

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