Fetal Cells In Vaccine Development
Cloned fetal cells are sometimes used in the development, confirmation or production process of making vaccines including the COVID-19 vaccine . The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, are not made using human cells, but they have been used in vaccine testing.
Human embryonic kidney cells are not fetal cells taken from recent abortions, but from cell lines derived from decades old fetal cells .
None of the finished COVID-19 vaccines used in the U.S. contain actual HEK cells , so it is not correct to describe them as a component of the vaccine.
How Does Thimerosal Work In The Body
- Thimerosal contains ethylmercury, which is a completely different form of mercury than elemental mercury or methylmercury, which are found in the environment and some kinds of fish. Elemental mercury and methylmercury stay in the human body and at high levels can make people sick. But ethylmercury does not stay in the body a long time and clears out of the blood quickly, so it does not build up and reach harmful levels. In fact, when thimerosal enters the human body, it breaks down to ethylmercury and thiosalicylate, which are easily eliminated.
Was Thimerosal Used In All Childhood Vaccines
- No. Some other vaccines, including the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine , do not and did not ever contain thimerosal or any preservative. Varicella , inactivated polio , and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines have also never contained thimerosal.
- There is no thimerosal used in the vaccines on the childhood immunization schedule.
Read Also: How Much Is The Varicella Vaccine At Cvs
Do Vaccines Contain Aluminum Or Mercury
Vaccine clinical trials are in the spotlight. Endless worldwide media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and groundbreaking vaccine research have also reignited the publics interest and intense debate about vaccine ingredients. One common question is, Why do some vaccines contain aluminum or mercury?
No Vaccines Are Not Cash Cows For The Pharmaceutical Industry
Next to clean water, no single intervention has had so profound an effect on reducing mortality from childhood diseases as has the widespread introduction of vaccines, says the National Academy of Sciences. Yet outbreaks of measles and mumps in recent years reflect a rise in public hesitancy and skepticism toward immunization. Amid todays pandemic, as many eagerly await a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, here are five myths about this medical innovation.
Also Check: How Many Weeks Between Vaccines
Health Effects Of Aluminum
The health effects of aluminum have been studied however, few have been shown to result from aluminum exposure. Kidney dialysis patients have developed disorders of the brain and bones due to the aluminum content in intravenous fluids and antacids following years of dialysis. Both disorders have decreased in occurrence due to improvements to dialysis systems. The bone disease was due to poor absorption of phosphate in the presence of high quantities of aluminum. Children taking large amounts of aluminum-based medications have also been found to suffer from this bone disorder.
It has been suggested that some diseases involving the brain, such as Alzheimer’s disease, are caused by aluminum accumulation in brain tissues. However, studies have not consistently found increased levels of aluminum leading some to hypothesize that the aluminum accumulation may be the result of tissue damage rather than the cause of disease.
Addressing Parents Concerns: Do Vaccines Contain Harmful Preservatives Adjuvants Additives Or Residuals
Pediatrics
Paul A. Offit, Rita K. Jew Addressing Parents Concerns: Do Vaccines Contain Harmful Preservatives, Adjuvants, Additives, or Residuals?. Pediatrics December 2003 112 : 13941397. 10.1542/peds.112.6.1394
Vaccines often contain preservatives, adjuvants, additives, or manufacturing residuals in addition to pathogen-specific immunogens. Some parents, alerted by stories in the news media or information contained on the World Wide Web, are concerned that some of the substances contained in vaccines might harm their children. We reviewed data on thimerosal, aluminum, gelatin, human serum albumin, formaldehyde, antibiotics, egg proteins, and yeast proteins. Both gelatin and egg proteins are contained in vaccines in quantities sufficient to induce rare instances of severe, immediate-type hypersensitivity reactions. However, quantities of mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, human serum albumin, antibiotics, and yeast proteins in vaccines have not been found to be harmful in humans or experimental animals.
You May Like: How Many Strains Of Flu Does The Vaccine Cover
Thimerosal The Most Controversial Ingredient In Vaccines
One of the most controversial ingredients in vaccines that parents are concerned about is thimerosal, a preservative derived from mercury. The purpose of thimerosal is to prevent germs from contaminating multidose vials of vaccines. Research found that thimerosal does not cause autism, as, according to a study, “the evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.”
There have been over ten studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the role of thimerosal in the development of autism over the last two decades, and none found a link. If parents are still worried about the presence of thimerosal in vaccines, there is good news for them – the preservative was completely removed or significantly reduced to trace amounts in childhood vaccines between 1999 and 2001, except for flu vaccines, which are packaged in multidose vials.
Immunization is fundamental, as preventing the protection offered by vaccination can cause real damage to autistic individuals, as well as to innocent bystanders who, as a consequence, may be exposed to resurgent diseases that had already been “extinguished”. One of the incidents that should make us think about the pros and cons of immunization is the 9,120 cases of whooping cough that occurred in California in 2010, more than any year since the vaccine for this disease was approved in the 1940s.
Which Vaccines Contain Heavy Metals
Believe it or not, your kids arent going to be exposed to any heavy metals when they get their routine vaccines.
The closest that they might come would be getting a flu vaccine with thimerosal, as mercury is indeed a heavy metal and thimerosal breaks down to ethylmercury. But then, the great majority of flu vaccines are now thimerosal-free, so they probably wont.
Even if they did, it is important to note that thimerosal was removed from vaccines as a precaution, not because it was toxic.
What about aluminum?
It is no secret that many vaccines contain aluminum.
Aluminum is a heavy metal with known neurotoxic effects on human and animal nervous systems. It can be found in the following childhood vaccines DTaP, Pediarix , Pentacel , Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae B , Human Papilloma Virus , and Pneumococcal vaccines.
NVIC on Aluminum and Vaccine Ingredients: What Do We Know? What Dont We Know?
Do you know what we know about aluminum?
It isnt a heavy metal.
Heavy metals include copper, gold, iron, lead, mercury, platinum, plutonium, silver, tin, and zinc.
Aluminum is classified as a light metal. Other light metals are calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium.
I guess that it makes aluminum sound scarier if you say it is a heavy metal though
It also make it sound scary if you imply that the aluminum salts in vaccines are neurotoxic. They arent.
But what about the idea that vaccines are contaminated with heavy metals?
Vaccines are safe and necessary.
Read Also: What Percentage Of Japan Is Vaccinated
Genny Himself Believed That Aluminium Salts Help By Binding To The Vaccines Main Ingredient The Part Resembling The Pathogen
To this day, the aluminium in vaccines is always in the form of salts. These include aluminium hydroxide , aluminium phosphate and potassium aluminium sulphate, which is sometimes found in baking powder.
Genny himself believed that aluminium salts help by binding to the vaccines main ingredient, the part resembling the pathogen, presenting it to the immune system more slowly. This might give the immune system longer to respond, and therefore lead to stronger immunity.
But this idea has gone out of fashion and the truth has proven to be a lot more complicated.
One theory is that the toxicity of aluminium salts is, paradoxically, the reason they work. They lead distressed cells to release uric acid, which activates an immune reaction normally associated with damage. Immune cells flock to the site, and start producing antibodies and voila, the vaccine has worked.
Another idea is that a receptor called Nalp3 is likely to play a central role. For a 2008 study led by Richard Flavell from Yale University, Connecticut, mice which had been genetically engineered without it were injected with a vaccine containing aluminium. Their immune response was almost non-existent. However, when they tried a vaccine using a different adjuvant one containing an emulsion of mineral oil the animals produced antibodies as usual.
Aqualene, an oil made from shark livers, is is a key ingredient in one leading squalene
Will A Covid Vaccine Contain Thiomersal
Although thiomersal is rarely used now, it is possible that one of the many Covid-19 vaccines currently in development will contain the preservative.
As mentioned above, it was effectively used in the Swine Flu vaccine. The WHO still recommends use of vaccines containing thiomersal for global immunisation programmes because the benefits of using such products far outweigh any theoretical risk of toxicity.
Don’t Miss: Does Shingles Vaccine Make You Sick
Quantities Of Aluminum In Other Substances
Breast milk
- 0.04 milligrams per liter
Ponds, lakes, streams
Antacid
- 104-208 mg/tablet
Given the quantities of aluminum we are exposed to on a daily basis, the quantity of aluminum in vaccines is miniscule. Aluminum-containing vaccines have been used for decades and have been given to more than 1 billion people without problem. In spring 2000, the National Vaccine Program Office reviewed aluminum exposure through vaccines and determined that no changes to vaccine recommendations were needed based on aluminum content. The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety, part of the World Health Organization , has also reviewed studies and found no evidence of health risks that would require changes to vaccine policy.
Here’s Why Parents Don’t Need To Worry About Mercury In The Flu Shot And Other Childhood Vaccines
One of the biggest reasons why parents are hesitant to vaccinate their children is fear of mercury in the shots. And thats an understandable argument: for years, vaccines did contain thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used to thwart the growth of bacteria and fungi in vaccine vials. But thimerosal was removed from most vaccines in 2001, and it has since been shown to have no adverse health effects. To help shed some fears about immunizations, read up on the latest information about mercury in vaccines.
Recommended Reading: What Does The Flu Vaccine Contain
What Is An Adjuvant And Why Is It Added To A Vaccine
An adjuvant is an ingredient used in some vaccines that helps create a stronger immune response in people receiving the vaccine. In other words, adjuvants help vaccines work better. Some vaccines that are made from weakened or killed germs contain naturally occurring adjuvants and help the body produce a strong protective immune response. However, most vaccines developed today include just small components of germs, such as their proteins, rather than the entire virus or bacteria. Adjuvants help the body to produce an immune response strong enough to protect the person from the disease he or she is being vaccinated against. Adjuvanted vaccines can cause more local reactions and more systemic reactions than non-adjuvanted vaccines.
Is Thimerosal Safe For People
- Although no evidence suggests there are safety concerns with thimerosal, vaccine manufacturers have stopped using it as a precautionary measure. The only vaccine that still includes thimerosal as a preservative is the multi-dose inactivated influenza vaccine. There are other formulations of flu vaccine that do not include thimerosal.
- In 1999, the Food and Drug Administration was required by law to assess the amount of mercury in all the products the agency oversees, not just vaccines. The U.S. Public Health Service decided that as much mercury as possible should be removed from vaccines, and thimerosal was the only source of mercury in vaccines.
- The decision to remove it was a made as a precautionary measure to decrease overall exposure to mercury among young infants.
- Thimerosal was removed from all childhood vaccines in 2001 with the exception of inactivated flu vaccine in multi-dose vials. However, thimerosal has been removed from all single-dose preparations of flu vaccine for children and adults. No acceptable alternative preservative has yet been identified for multi-dose flu vaccine vials.
Read Also: When Do Children Get The Chickenpox Vaccine
What Keeps Todays Childhood Vaccines From Becoming Contaminated If They Do Not Contain Thimerosal As A Preservative
- The childhood vaccines that used to contain thimerosal as a preservative are now put into single-dose vials or syringes, so no preservative is needed. In the past, these vaccines were put into multi-dose vials, which could become contaminated when new needles were used to get vaccine out of the vial for each dose.
How Thimerosal Is Different From Methylmercury
As a naturally occurring heavy metal, mercury can be found in two forms – methylmercury and ethylmercury. They are very different from each other. The latter is eliminated from the body faster than methylmercury and is thereby less likely to cause harm. Methylmercury is the mercury found in certain kinds of fish, and at a high exposure level, it can be toxic to people. Federal guidelines keep as much methylmercury as possible out of the environment and food in our country. Nevertheless, thimerosal belongs to the ethylmercury subclass of mercury, making it less dangerous. Moreover, it has numerous other characteristics that deem it safer in vaccines, particularly since it is used in very small amounts, such as:
Therefore, from what has been discussed above, whether thimerosal is present in childhood vaccines or not, it seems to have no causal relation with autism. A plethora of reputable medical studies supports this fact. It is worthy of note that mumps, rubella, and measles vaccines have never contained thimerosal. Likewise, varicella, pneumococcal conjugate, and inactivated polio vaccines have never had it as a preservative. Additionally, nowadays, influenza vaccines are available in both thimerosal-containing and thimerosal-free versions, so if you are a parent who still worries about the effects of this preservative, you can choose a “clean” vaccine.
Recommended Reading: How Long Does Meningococcal Vaccine Last
How To Survive This Pandemic
As for yourself, do everything you can to prevent gettingand spreadingCOVID-19 in the first place: Wear a face mask, get tested if you think you have coronavirus, avoid crowds , practice social distancing, only run essential errands, wash your hands regularly, disinfect frequently touched surfaces, and to get through this pandemic at your healthiest, don’t miss these 35 Places You’re Most Likely to Catch COVID.
Our Expert Attorneys Will Assist You In Obtaining Compensation If Your Child Developed Autism
With 30 years of professional experience, our lawyers have the necessary resources and scientific background to help you recover fair compensation on behalf of your child if they were fed baby food with heavy metals and subsequently came to struggle with autism. After you give our legal staff a call, all you have to do is describe your situation as best as you can, answer our questions, and send our experts the medical records of your child as evidence. These documents will also serve as a starting point for our attorneys.
Following a thorough review by our skilled attorneys, you will be informed with regard to whether you can file a toxic baby food claim. If you qualify for compensation, we will shortly begin working on your claim to prepare it for submission. Until resolution, you can go on with your life as usual, as we will take care of the most difficult aspects of the legal process for you, as we know that parents of children with autism often need more time for caregiving. In the end, you will obtain the money you deserve from the liable companies.
Recommended Reading: What Percentage Of People Have Been Vaccinated
Vaccines Are Full Of Toxic Heavy Metals
The most prominent proponent of this theory, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., claimed in a notorious article co-published by Rolling Stone and Salon in 2005 that vaccines with thimerosal could be linked to the epidemic of childhood neurological disorders. In 2015, anti-vaccine activist Jenny McCarthy aluminum the other devil, asserting that vaccines contained even higher levels of that metal.
The purported link between vaccines, thimerosal and autism has been repeatedly debunked and according to the FDA, only a few, rarely used influenza vaccines still contain the preservative. Aluminum, meanwhile, is abundant throughout our environment but is not heavily present in vaccines it is not generally considered a heavy metal. According to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, the amount of aluminum in the vaccines babies get in their first six months is just over half as much as the amount ingested during six months of breast-feeding and a 10th of what is imbibed by formula-fed babies. The FDA has repeatedly verified that aluminum adjuvants are safe and effective.
What Is More Likely To Cause Autism Vaccines Or Baby Food
Posted on February 03rd, 2022
Perhaps the main concern parents have when it comes to immunization is the risk of their child developing autism. However, this is purely a myth that has been perpetuated by various groups over the last two decades, as there is no scientific study supporting the causal relation between vaccines and autism.
Over the past few decades, more and more children have been diagnosed with autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder whose symptoms include delayed cognitive or learning skills, hyperactive, impulsive, or inattentive behavior, and unusual emotional reactions. Since 2007, the incidence of autism has grown from 1.16% to 2% in the United States.
To put it differently, 1 in 54 children born after 2008 has autism, according to a last year report. Both vaccines and store baby food have been normalized after the turn of the century, so many parents wonder – was my child’s autism caused by vaccines or baby food tainted with heavy metals?
Recommended Reading: How Old Must A Kitten Be To Get Vaccinated