U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials have blocked the publication of several studies supporting the safety of widely used vaccines against Covid-19 and shingles, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said.
Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, said the studies were withdrawn due to concerns about their conclusions.
“The studies were withdrawn because the authors drew broad conclusions that were not supported by the underlying data. The FDA acted to protect the integrity of its scientific process and ensure that any work associated with the agency meets its high standards,” he said in an email to Reuters.
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The withdrawal of those studies is the latest attempt by the health regulator and the government to limit access to vaccines, reflecting broader changes in policy by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an outspoken critic of vaccines.
The Trump administration drastically reduced funding for vaccine research and raised questions about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines during Kennedy’s tenure, which introduced sweeping changes to federal health agencies.
In August last year, the US Department of Health and Human Services said it would cut nearly $500 million from the development of mRNA vaccines, canceling 22 federal projects overseen by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a government-backed funding body.
Last June, a Kennedy-backed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) panel voted to remove the mercury-based preservative thimerosal from flu vaccines, despite long-standing clinical evidence about its safety.
British pharmaceutical company GSK markets Shingrix, a vaccine against shingles, a painful viral infection that causes blisters and rashes, while Pfizer and Moderna are the main manufacturers of vaccines against Covid-19.
