Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the vocal vaccine critic, is still in talks with the U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to establish a commission for looking into vaccine safety, he said recently at a press conference held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Kennedy said that he has been contacted thrice by the administration since January 10 and that they are still going forward with a commission. However, Kennedy did not specify who in the administration had contacted him.
Kennedy, known popularly as a radio host, environmental activist, author and attorney specializing in environmental law, was summoned on January 10 to meet with the then president-elect after which he emerged from Trump Tower in the New York City to inform the press that Trump had asked him to head a "vaccine safety and scientific integrity" commission. A Trump spokesperson also verified Kennedy's statements, saying the president is exploring the possibility of forming a commission on Autism. The spokesperson further added that Trump has been discussing all aspects of autism with many groups and individuals.
In the press conference on February 15, Kennedy added that in January, Trump had told him that he knew the pharmaceutical industry was going to cause an uproar about this but he was "not going to back down."
Kennedy, joined at the press conference by actor Robert De Niro, another vaccine critic, announced that a group called "The World Mercury Project" is launching a $100,000 "Open Challenge to American Science Journalists (and others)" to come up with any paper published in a peer-reviewed journal and indexed in PubMed, demonstrating that thimerosal is safe in the amounts contained in vaccines currently being administered to American children and pregnant women.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that numerous studies have concluded that thimerosal is not dangerous if taken in the small amount, like found in some influenza vaccines and in one formulation each of meningococcal and tetanus vaccines. Additionally, public health experts note that although people do rarely have reactions to vaccines, their benefits have far outweighed any risks.