If only to err on the side of caution, why can all vaccines be thimerosal-free?
“The vaccines that are given to children in the U.S. are nearly thimerosal free,” says Schuchat. “All but the flu vaccines that are given to young children do not contain thimerosal. Some formulations of flu vaccine are thimerosal-free and some are not. So the pediatric vaccine supply is nearly thimerosal-free. Thimerosal is a preservative that keeps germs from overgrowing. So vials of vaccine that are multiple doses, 20 or 30 doses, have a preservative to keep them from bacterial contamination. It was put in there because people died from vaccines that were contaminated. “To get thimerosal out of all vaccines would require additional construction of facilities to be able to prepare vaccines differently. So there have been major changes since 1999 in removing thimerosal from the vaccine supply, but it is a many-year process. Although there is no compelling evidence that thimerosal caused harm, the concerns that have been raised have led to this lengthy process. “Some of the pharmaceuti
