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 A controversial research trial that will withhold hepatitis B vaccines from some African newborns was given approval to move forward this week. It is a central part of the vaccine vision for Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and a…
The controversial research trial, backed by Robert F Kennedy Jr, has been given approval to proceed in Guinea-Bissau. The trial aims to withhold the hepatitis B vaccine from some newborns for the first six weeks of their lives. This decision has sparked controversy, with Danish researchers being criticized for potentially putting the lives of African newborns at risk in the name of scientific inquiry.
The trial, which will enroll 14,000 infants, will give the hepatitis B vaccine to half of the babies at birth and withhold it from the others for the first six weeks. The ethics committee at the University of Southern Denmark, where the researchers are based, has voted to proceed with the trial, despite significant ethical concerns raised by some of its members.
The Health Minister of Guinea-Bissau, Quinhin Nantote, had initially suspended the trial after international criticism, but it has been re-approved. The trial's protocol has changed since it was first posted in January, with researchers now testing mothers for hepatitis B before birth. The babies of mothers who test negative may be enrolled in the trial, although the new protocol has not been made public.
The CDC has allocated $1.6 million for the project, with additional funding from private sources. Critics argue that it is unethical to place some children at risk of contracting a potentially deadly disease while others are vaccinated.
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