Polio vaccine conversation goes viral

On December 13, the New York Times reported that in 2022, a lawyer assisting presumptive HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in screening federal health officials petitioned the FDA to revoke its approval of the inactivated polio vaccine. Since Friday, the story has been trending nationally and globally, with many criticizing the attempt to discredit an established and trusted vaccine. In response, several politicians have attempted to distance themselves from criticism of the polio vaccine. However, other social media posts claimed that the modern polio vaccine was not properly tested and was not as safe as the vaccine developed by Jonas Salk in the early 1950s. Some also repeated the myth that routine vaccines have not been subjected to randomized controlled trials. Some posts displayed broad anti-vaccine beliefs, insisting that children receive too many vaccines and that vaccines cause more harm than good. 

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