The U.S. Health and Human Services Department plans to change how new vaccines are tested, according to The Washington Post. An HHS spokesperson told the publication the shift would require vaccines to undergo placebo testing.
This means that half of the test group would receive the vaccine, and the other half would receive a different substance, such as a saline shot, The Washington Post reported.
“All new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure — a radical departure from past practices,” the HHS spokesperson told the paper.
Flu vaccine exempt from change
The government said flu vaccine testing would not be subject to the new process because it has been tested and tried the same way for 80 years.
It’s unclear which vaccines would be tested using the placebo.
COVID-19 vaccine used placebo method
During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine companies tested their COVID-19 vaccines using the placebo method.
“Except for the COVID vaccine, none of the vaccines on the CDC’s childhood recommended schedule was tested against an inert placebo, meaning we know very little about the actual risk profiles of these products,” HHS said in its statement.
Some doctors and health professionals said the new testing is unnecessary and will leave vulnerable people at risk of preventable diseases.
“You are watching the gradual dissolution of the vaccine infrastructure in this country,” Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told the Post. “The goal is to make vaccines less available and less affordable.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously criticized the way vaccines are tested.
“I’ve always said during my campaign and every public statement I’ve made, I’m not going to take people’s vaccines away from them,” he said. “What I’m going to do is make sure that we have good science so people can make an informed choice.”
