Last updated on November 5th, 2025
Editor’s Note
In recent years, some US political figures and certain organizations have published papers that spread a series of false claims about vaccines. Wavering vaccine guidance in the U.S. left the public confused. This uncertainty has created an information vacuum, the one that misinformation and conspiracy theories are rapidly filling. For the health and safety of society, Facts Hunter investigated these claims.
Claim
In September 2025, US President Donald Trump publicly questioned the safety of aluminum in vaccines during a White House press conference, while US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed on social media that “children who are vaccinated with aluminum vaccines, have 30 times the rate of allergic rhinitis as kids who don’t.” Meanwhile, the anti-vaccine movement began to increasingly use so-called “scientific data.” These remarks and reports spread in society, raising public doubts about the safety of vaccines.
Fact check：
1、Aluminum Adjuvants
A persistent narrative has targeted a specific ingredient in vaccines: aluminum. U.S. President Donald Trump raised this question at a White House press conference on September 23, 2025.
00:56:18 We want no aluminum in the vaccine. 01:27:04 Who the hell wants that pumped into a body? — Donald Trump, U.S. President |
- The Use and Safety of Aluminum
According to the article published by CHOP, the aluminum is used in vaccines as an adjuvant. An adjuvant is a vaccine component that boosts the immune response to the vaccine.
Vaccines containing adjuvants must undergo extensive clinical trials before being licensed, and their health risks are low. Since 1926, aluminum adjuvants have been safely used in various vaccines such as hepatitis B and hepatitis A vaccines, with no health issues reported among over 1 billion vaccinated people worldwide. Studies have shown that the aluminum content in vaccines is extremely low, far lower than the amount humans consume daily through food or water.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Paul A. Offit also explored the issue. He said:
“Is it possible to get enough aluminum to hurt you? The answer to that question is yes, but not by vaccines.” “The level of aluminum contained in vaccines, however, is trivial. You frankly ingest much more aluminum either in the water that you drink, or anything made from water on this planet, and many of the foods that we gain contain quantities of aluminum far greater than you’re ever gonna get in vaccines.” |
2、Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy
A prevalent claim on social media links aluminum in vaccines to the triggering of allergic responses.
“Aluminum provokes an allergic response, and that’s why it’s valuable.” “These food allergy epidemics date to when we started giving kids aluminum.” “Children who are vaccinated with aluminum vaccines, have 30 times the rate of allergic rhinitis as kids who don’t.” — Rober F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services |
- The temporal paradox of the claim
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim is contradicted by the timeline.
According to the CDC report, vaccines with aluminum adjuvants have been widely used since the 1930s.
However, according to data from another CDC article, the significant increase in the incidence of allergies among U.S. children started from 2000, and this timeline directly refutes the logical link of “aluminum causing an allergy epidemic.”
3、The Rise of “Pseudoscience”
The anti-vaccine movement began to increasingly use “scientific data.” A prominent example is this “report” from the “McCullough Foundation,” which gained significant traction online. The report claims a link between childhood vaccination and autism, or ASD.
We investigated this report. We found that it is built on a foundation of misrepresentation, unreliable sources, and rudimentary errors.
- Citing a Retracted, Fraudulent Paper：One of the report’s central arguments is a 1998 paper in The Lancet by Andrew Wakefield. That paper was fully retracted by The Lancet in 2010 for data fabrication and failure to disclose serious financial conflicts. Wakefield himself was subsequently struck off the medical register in the UK.
Therefore, the report cited this retracted paper that has lost its scientific validity in its analysis, rendering both the reliability of its conclusions and academic rigor untenable.
- Severely Biased Data Methodology：The report’s key data—the comparisons between “vaccinated” and “unvaccinated” children—are sourced from non-peer-review, “self-selecting” online surveys (such as the Joy Garner data). This method relies entirely on “subjective parent reports” and performs no independent verification of the ASD diagnoses.
Because participants are self-selected rather than randomly sampled, the data are subject to substantial selection bias and cannot support causal conclusions.
- A Core Contradiction：The report identifies ethyl mercury (from the preservative Thimerosal) as one of the primary causes of ASD.
“adjuvant (ethyl mercury and aluminum) induced mitochondrial and neuroimmune dysfunction, central nervous system injury, and resultant incipient phenotypic expression of ASD.” |
According to the FDA, Thimerosal has been removed from all routine childhood vaccines since 2001 (with the exception of some multi-dose flu vials).
But according to CDC data, in the years following its removal, ASD prevalence rates have continued to climb. This fact directly contradicts the report’s causal conclusion.
- Riddled with Basic and Unprofessional Errors：For example, “Dr. Andrew Zimmerman” is misspelled in the references as “Andrew W. Zimmera”
A cited German paper’s title misspells “Autistischen” as “Autistisehen.”
And the basic medical term “inpatient visit” is misspelled as “impatient visit.”
- A Background Investigation of the Authors
- Peter McCullough
Its founder, Peter A. McCullough, had his professional certifications in internal medicine and cardiology revoked by the American Board of Internal Medicine for spreading misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. McCullough also promotes an unproven “Spike Protein Detox” supplement regimen.
“Now here are the doses. Nattokinase, 2000 units twice a day. Bromelain, 500 milligrams a day. And curcumin, 500 milligrams twice a day. How long? About three to twelve months to detoxify the body. I’ve had enough experience with this in my clinic that I know that this will help.”
– in Instagram below
He has disclosed that he receives financial compensation from “The Wellness Company,” which sells the product.
“Dr. McCullough receives partial salary support and holds an equity |
One bottle of the supplement retails for $90.
In reality, ‘Long COVID’ remains under active scientific investigation, and there is no evidence that Dr. McCullough’s treatment protocol is effective.（https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/post-covid-19-condition-(long-covid)）
The report’s lead author, Nicolas Hulscher, previously had a paper on vaccine-induced myocarditis retracted.
The retraction notice cited “errors, misrepresentation, and lack of factual support for the conclusions.”
4、The Real-World Consequences
The dissemination of vaccine misinformation has tangible public health consequences, as the spread of such misinformation may lead to a decrease in vaccination rates, which can result in outbreaks of diseases like measles.
According to CDC data, confirmed measles cases in 2025 have reached their highest point in nearly 25 years.
Among these cases, 96% occurred in individuals who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
It is worth noting that the U.S. had declared measles “eliminated” in the year 2000 — a public health achievement that was realized through vaccination.
Verdict
False claims about vaccines in the U.S. employed a variety of falsification techniques. Trump’s remarks were misleading; Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim that aluminum in vaccines causes allergies was false; and the “McCullough Foundation” report was built on false statements, unreliable sources, and rudimentary errors. These contents together constitute systematic misinformation about vaccines.
References
Peer-reviewed or authoritative scientific media sources
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-aluminum-in-vaccines-is-safe-and-often-essential/
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/post-covid-19-condition-(long-covid)
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db121.htm
https://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7452
https://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.d1678
Pseudoscientific data sources used by anti-vaxxers
https://www.oatext.com/pdf/JTS-7-459.pdf
Have a questionable video or claim? Submit it to Fact Hunter’s investigation team at [therealfacthunter@outlook.com].
Primary Fact Checker: Kevin Lee
Secondary Fact Checker: Sun Fei
