A 'war on children': as US changes Covid vaccine rules, parents of trial volunteers push back
Source: The Guardian
Mon 2 Jun 2025 06.00 EDT
Last modified on Mon 2 Jun 2025 06.02 EDT
As the Trump administration contemplates new clinical trials for Covid boosters and moves to restrict Covid vaccines for children and others, parents whose children participated in the clinical trials expressed anger and dismay.
“It’s really devastating to see this evidence base officially ignored and discarded,” said Sophia Bessias, a parent in North Carolina whose two- and four-year-old kids were part of the Pfizer pediatric vaccine trial.
“It’s infuriating. My kids contributed literal blood and tears to help demonstrate the safety of these vaccines,” Bessias said. “As a parent and also a pediatrician, I think it’s devastating that we might no longer have the option to protect kids against Covid,” said Katherine Matthias, a pediatrician in South Carolina and a cofounder of Protect Their Future, a children’s health organization.
Robert F Kennedy Jr, head of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has called for new trials using saline placebos for each of the routine childhood vaccines recommended by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), even though these vaccines have already been tested against placebos or against vaccines that were themselves tested against placebos.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/02/vaccine-rule-change-child-trial-volunteers
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