Friday, June 06, 2025

A Good Primer on Vaccine Trials to Rebut RFK-Style Idiocy

There's an old anti-vaccine trope that the only way to know if a vaccine is safe and effective is to use a placebo-controlled clinical study, in which some people receive the vaccine and others receive an inert substance, such as a saline shot, before the results are compared. HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has embraced this trope and ordered that all new vaccines have placebo controls.

Comments

FTA:

What HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and his anti-vaccine sycophants don't understand is that sometimes we do have placebo-controlled clinical studies for vaccines. On the other hand, sometimes it is unethical and unnecessary to perform a placebo-controlled vaccine clinical trial.

Furthermore, clinical studies are not the only way to determine a vaccine's safety and effectiveness. Large epidemiological studies, like case-control and cohort studies, also provide substantial evidence about vaccine safety and effectiveness. But anti-vaxxers completely ignore that, and so does RFK Jr.

RFK is an idiot. This article explains why.

#1 | Posted by jpw at 2025-06-04 08:41 PM

@#1 ... RFK is an idiot. ...

Idiot? I'm not there yet.

I mean, after all, he is now in the position he is in.

With no visible medical qualification, beside an apparent adulation and obsequious worshiping of Pres Trump.

So, who is the idiot here?

Sec Kennedy for exploiting Pres Trump?

Or Pres Trump for allowing himself (or wanting himself) to see such unfettered adulation of Pres Trump?


#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-06-04 09:09 PM

Heroin Bob is going to get a lot of people killed, and his words and actions will result many, many children suffering. So MAGA folk in this country have that to look forward to...

#3 | Posted by catdog at 2025-06-06 01:11 PM

"Idiot? I'm not there yet."

This is why Connecticut has zero pro sports franchises.

#4 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2025-06-06 02:47 PM

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