Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called for all countries to remove the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal from inoculations.
“The Minamata Convention was born from a shared moral conviction that no human being should suffer from exposure to mercury,” Kennedy said in a video address.
“Article 4 of the Convention calls on parties to cut mercury use by phasing out listed mercury-added products. But in 2010, as the treaty took shape, negotiators made a major exception. Thimerosal-containing vaccines were carved out in the regulation,” he explained, going on to ask, “Why? Why do we hold a double standard for mercury? Why do we call it dangerous in batteries, in over-the-counter medications, and makeup, but acceptable in vaccines and dental fillings?”
Kennedy noted that the preservative has “never undergone proper safety testing in humans.”
“Thimerosal’s own label requires it to be treated as a hazardous material and warns against ingestion. There is not a single study that proves it safe,” he said. “That’s why in July of this year, the United States closed the final chapter on the use of thimerosal as a vaccine preservative, something that should have happened years ago.”
“I want to be clear, it’s inexcusable that governments around the world still allow mercury-based compounds in health care, and safe alternatives exist. Now that America has removed mercury from all vaccines, I call on every global health authority and every party to this convention to do the same,” Kennedy declared in his address.
Earlier this year, Kennedy moved to adopt the recommendation that thimerosal be removed from inoculations.
“After more than two decades of delay, this action fulfills a long-overdue promise to protect our most vulnerable populations from unnecessary mercury exposure,” Kennedy stated at the time. “Injecting any amount of mercury into children when safe, mercury-free alternatives exist defies common sense and public health responsibility.”
