only one, and that our client sought to leave Americans without the choice to get vaccinated for polio.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn reality, the petition sought to ensure the safety of one of the six existing licensed polio vaccines that we inject into our children three times before their first birthday,\u201d he said.\n\n\n\n

The report surfaced just days before RFK Jr. traveled to Capitol Hill this week to meet with Senators, seeking support for his confirmation as HHS Secretary, Fox notes.\n\n\n\n

The petition, filed in 2022 on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) rather than as an individual action by Siri, called for the FDA to suspend the polio vaccine IPOL for infants and children. ICAN\u2019s request was based on concerns that IPOL, which was licensed in 1990 by Sanofi, was approved after pediatric trials that, according to the FDA, assessed safety for only three days following injection.\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not the traditional polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk or Albert Sabin that many people are familiar with, Siri added,\u201d Fox reported. \u201cInstead, it is a product utilizing a different technology, where the polio virus is grown on monkey kidney cells that have been genetically altered to replicate indefinitely, similar to cancer cells. Traces of these cells are present in each vaccine dose.\u201d\n\n\n\n

Another petition filed on behalf of ICAN in 2021 focuses on 13 childhood vaccines containing aluminum adjuvants. The petition cites a peer-reviewed study that found discrepancies between the aluminum levels in these vaccines and the amounts listed on their FDA-approved labels, Fox noted. It calls on the FDA to verify and publicly release documentation proving the accuracy of the aluminum content or to halt distribution until the issue is resolved \u2014 a concern critics argue should not be controversial for products administered to infants.\n\n\n\n

\u201cCurrently, political labeling (pro-vaccine, anti-vaccine) is inadequate to encompass the realities of medical ethics, regulatory capture, and the influence of corporate money on health policy,\u201d Siri told Fox. \u201cWe must be able to raise valid questions about vaccine safety, efficacy and policy without fear that any deviation from the mantra \u2018safe and effective\u2019 will be smeared with epithets and outrage.\u201d\n\n\n\n

In the days following media reports about Siri\u2019s petition, both Trump and RFK Jr. have stated that they support the polio vaccine, though they did not specify which one. RFK Jr. has expressed skepticism about some vaccines while supporting others, sharing these views in interviews during his 2024 presidential campaign as part of his \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d (MAHA) slogan, Fox reported.\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied,\u201d Katie Miller, the transition spokeswoman for Kennedy, said in response.\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Trump said \u201ceverything should be looked at,\u201d adding that he\u2019s a \u201cbig believer in the polio vaccine,\u201d during a Mar-a-Lago press conference Monday morning, Fox noted.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"