RFK Jr. Plan to Test a Vaccine in West African Babies Is Blocked
The New York Times • • health
Key Points:
- Guinea-Bissau has suspended a U.S.-funded hepatitis B vaccine study in infants following ethical concerns raised by public health researchers.
- The $1.6 million study, approved by the CDC shortly after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lifted the recommendation for universal birth-dose vaccination, faced criticism for delaying vaccination in half the infants until six weeks old.
- Critics argued the study violated international ethical standards by not providing the accepted standard of care—vaccination at birth—and failing to screen pregnant women for hepatitis B.
- The CDC and Department of Health and Human Services defended the study's design as scientifically and ethically sound, aiming to investigate the effects of the hepatitis B vaccine.
- The study, led by Danish researchers
