Controversial vaccine trial touted by RFK Jr gets go-ahead in Guinea-Bissau
Recommended dose of hepatitis B vaccine will be withheld from thousands of newborns by Danish researchers
TL;DR
- A controversial trial withholding hepatitis B vaccines from some African newborns has been approved to proceed.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has praised the Danish researchers and supported the trial as part of a broader vaccine agenda.
- The trial, involving 14,000 infants in Guinea-Bissau, will give the hepatitis B vaccine to half at birth and withhold it from the other half for six weeks.
- Significant ethical concerns have led to resignations from the trial's ethics committee.
- Critics argue the trial is unethical, exploiting a developing country and exposing infants to preventable diseases.
- The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reportedly allocated $1.6 million to the project.
- Changes to the protocol include testing mothers for hepatitis B before birth, excluding positive cases from the trial.
- Hepatitis B can be transmitted casually and has a high risk of causing chronic infection and liver cancer in young children.