In an interview on the Joe Rogan show, lawyer Aaron Siri argues that vaccines may cause health problems like autism or chronic illness and that the government and medical experts hide or ignore this evidence.

The idea that vaccines cause autism has been studied for many years. Scientists keep finding the same answer: vaccines do not cause autism.

The first claim came from a paper written in 1998 by a doctor named Andrew Wakefield. Later, scientists discovered that the paper was dishonest and based on false information. The journal removed the paper. Since then, many large studies have looked at this question. Some studies followed hundreds of thousands of children.

One study in Denmark followed more than 650,000 children. These studies found no difference in autism rates between children who were vaccinated and children who were not.

Scientists have also learned that autism begins very early in development, often before a baby is born. Differences in the brain linked to autism start forming in the womb. Genetics also plays an important role. Because of this, vaccines given later in infancy cannot be the cause.

Some people think the number of vaccines children receive might overwhelm the immune system or cause autism. But today’s vaccines actually contain fewer antigens (the parts that help the body learn to fight germs) than vaccines used decades ago. Autism diagnoses have increased mostly because doctors are better at recognizing it, and the guidance for diagnosis has improved. If vaccines caused autism, autism rates should have gone down as vaccine ingredients decreased. That did not happen.

Some studies claim vaccinated children have more autism than unvaccinated children. But many of these studies have problems. For example, families who vaccinate their children may visit doctors more often. Because of this, doctors are more likely to notice and diagnose developmental conditions. Children who rarely see a doctor may have autism but never receive a diagnosis.

Another claim says that government agencies hid evidence linking vaccines to autism. These claims often point to a 2000 scientific meeting called Simpsonwood. But later investigations, including a U.S. Senate review, found no evidence that scientists hid information. The meeting was simply scientists discussing early data and checking for possible safety issues, which is a normal part of research.

Serious reactions to vaccines are very rare. Most side effects are mild, such as soreness or swelling where the shot was given. The risks from vaccines are much smaller than the risks from the diseases they prevent.

In an interview last year on FOX news, RFK Jr. claims the MMR vaccine contains millions of DNA fragments from fetal cells used to grow the vaccine virus and suggests those fragments could enter and become part of a person’s DNA.

These claims often point to a paper written by Theresa Deisher. In it, she mostly refers to her own research. Many scientists say the conclusions in the paper are not supported by good evidence. One scientist, Teja Celhar, explained that the study had serious problems with how the measurements were done. The results should have been checked using other scientific methods and by other researchers. Because this was not done, the claims are not considered reliable.

Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites that cannot grow on their own. They must grow inside living cells. To make vaccines, scientists sometimes grow viruses in special cells in the lab. Some vaccines use cell lines that came from two pregnancy terminations in the 1960s. These cell lines can keep growing in the lab, so scientists can still use them today. No new fetal cells are needed to make vaccines.

Dr. Stanley Plotkin, a well-known vaccine scientist, has explained this in several videos. These cell lines help make vaccines safely because they do not carry animal viruses, they allow viruses to grow well, and they can keep reproducing for many years. Because the cells continue growing in the lab, new pregnancies are not involved.

Even though these events happened long ago, some people still have moral concerns. In 2005, the Vatican said it is acceptable for Catholics to receive certain vaccines when they help protect health. In 2017, the Vatican explained this further and said that protecting others through vaccination is an important moral responsibility.

Pope Francis also spoke about vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said about COVID vaccination, “I believe that morally everyone must take the vaccine.”

Recently, leaders across many faith communities have agreed that protecting the community is important.

People from many religions may still have questions about vaccines. Because of this, it is helpful for health groups and faith communities to work together, talk openly, and build trust.

A video posted online claims that the COVID vaccine may cause mental health problems and says the government and health officials lied and tried to control people by pushing the vaccine.

The video says a new study proves the COVID vaccine can cause psychiatric problems and that health officials lied about vaccine safety. That is not what the study actually shows. The study is a short review that looked at published case reports. It found 14 reported cases of psychiatric symptoms after vaccination, such as psychosis, mania, or confusion. Case reports are not only written in the case of extreme and unusual circumstances, but they only show that something happened after an event, and they cannot prove the event caused it.

The authors also say clearly that a causal link cannot be made from this kind of evidence, concluding that “vaccination, in general, is a safe procedure”, and that these reactions appear to happen in only a small number of people. The authors wrote that more research is needed and that doctors should monitor patients after vaccination. They did not say the vaccine is dangerous or that psychiatric problems are a common result.

Experts who study the brain and the immune system say that psychiatric symptoms after vaccination are possible in theory. Vaccines activate the immune system, and immune signals can affect the brain. In rare cases, this might trigger symptoms in someone who is already vulnerable. But this is only a hypothesis, and it has not been proven to be a common effect of COVID vaccines.

Large safety studies give a clearer picture than case reports. These studies follow thousands or millions of people. Most of them have not found a clear increase in major psychiatric disorders after COVID vaccination. Health agencies that track vaccine safety have also not identified a broad psychiatric syndrome linked to the vaccines.

In short, the video takes a small and uncertain finding and presents it as proof that vaccines cause psychiatric harm and that the public was deceived. The review itself does not support those claims. It reports a few rare cases, says causation is unclear, and states that vaccination is generally safe while calling for more research.