In a press conference following a report issued about the causes of autism, Health Secretary RFK Jr. and President Trump made a number of false claims about vaccines and autism. We will talk about them in this week’s newsletter.

In 1998,  Andrew Wakefield held a press conference about a paper he wrote that wrongly suggested vaccines might cause autism. That paper has since been proven false and officially taken back.

At that time, scientists didn’t know as much about autism as they do today. Now, research shows autism is mostly caused by genes and usually begins before birth, while the baby’s brain is still developing. The brain differences linked to autism are present early on, not caused suddenly by vaccines.

In 2000, the CDC held a two-day meeting at the Simpsonwood Conference Center to review data about thimerosal, a mercury compound once used in some vaccines. Experts, health organizations, and vaccine companies carefully studied whether it was linked to autism or other brain issues.

Later, in 2005, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. published an article claiming there was a conspiracy to hide vaccine safety problems. But the article contained many errors and was retracted.

In 2007, a Senate committee reviewed these claims against the CDC. They found the accusations were mostly untrue and that the CDC did not interfere with vaccine safety studies. They also found no evidence of a cover-up at the Simpsonwood meeting or pressure on researchers to change their results.

Many large studies since then, including one in Denmark that followed more than 650,000 children, show that vaccines like the MMR shot do not cause autism. Kids who got the vaccine were no more likely to have autism than kids who did not.

The press conference also made the ingredients in vaccines seem unsafe, particularly aluminum. President Trump said, “We want no aluminum in the vaccine.”

Aluminum is sometimes added to vaccines as an adjuvant, to help the body’s immune system respond better. This means children need fewer doses to get full protection.

Research has shown over and over that the tiny amount of aluminum in vaccines is far below levels that could be harmful. Our bodies already handle small amounts of aluminum because it’s naturally found in food, water, and even some medicines.

Most of the aluminum from vaccines leaves the body quickly through the kidneys. One study published in Vaccine found that the amount in vaccines is much smaller than what people take in every day from food and the environment.

The small amount that stays in the body for a short time does not build up to dangerous levels. Vaccines save millions of lives every year, and their benefits are much greater than the very small and disproven risks sometimes claimed.

A recent study from Denmark looked at the health of more than 1.2 million children over many years. The researchers checked for long-term problems like asthma, autism, and other ongoing illnesses. Because the study was so large and carefully done, it gives very strong evidence that aluminum in vaccines does not cause chronic health problems in children.

During the press conference, the President also argued that vaccines should not be made to prevent more than one disease. Trump said, “This is based on what I feel. The mumps, measles–and the three should be taken separately. And it seems to be that when you mix them, there could be a problem. So, there’s no downside in taking them separately. In fact, they think it’s better. So let it be separate.”

Combination vaccines, like MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella) or Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis), are made to protect children against several diseases with fewer shots.

Instead of needing a separate injection for each illness, one shot can cover more than one, which saves time and helps children stay on track with the recommended schedule. Missed or delayed vaccines can leave children vulnerable to serious illness. Fewer shots also mean less stress for both kids and parents.

Extensive research shows that combination vaccines are just as safe and effective as giving shots separately. Children today receive far fewer antigens to protect against more diseases than kids did even 30 years ago, when the vaccine schedule used 3,000 antigens to protect against 8 diseases by age two. Today, the vaccine schedule uses 305 antigens to protect against 14 diseases in the same timeframe.

To put this in perspective, children fight off 2,000-6,000 antigens every day just by eating, breathing, and playing.

Combination vaccines simplify the schedule and reduce the number of shots. This helps schools and communities stay safer since fewer unvaccinated children mean fewer chances for diseases like measles, whooping cough, or chickenpox to spread.