Trump Targets Vaccine Ingredients
The Trump administration is reviewing whether to remove aluminium from several common U.S. vaccines, a move scientists say could severely weaken the country’s protection against infectious diseases.
During a September 22 news conference, President Donald Trump said he wanted “no aluminium in the vaccine,” echoing long-debunked anti-vaccine talking points. The president also recently discouraged pregnant women from using Tylenol over unproven autism risks, drawing criticism from medical experts.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has already reduced vaccine access under Trump, scaling back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, approving fewer recipients, and seeking to remove thimerosal, a preservative long shown to be safe.
Two weeks after Trump’s comments, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) announced a new working group to examine the childhood vaccine schedule, including ingredient safety and aluminium adjuvants.
What Aluminium Does in Vaccines
Aluminium is used in vaccines as an adjuvant—a substance that helps the immune system produce a stronger response, allowing for smaller doses and fewer shots.
“Aluminium is one of our oldest and safest adjuvants, used since the 1920s,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, professor at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.
According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, vaccines with aluminium adjuvants contain less than 1 milligram per dose—a fraction of what people ingest daily through food and water.
By comparison, infants get about 4.4 mg of aluminium from vaccines in their first six months of life—far less than the 7 mg from breastmilk or 38 mg from formula during the same period.
Decades of Data Show Aluminium Is Safe
Health agencies including the CDC and FDA affirm that vaccines containing aluminium are safe and effective. Every licensed vaccine undergoes extensive animal and human trials before approval and is continuously monitored afterward.
“Vaccines with aluminium have been given to billions worldwide,” said Dr. Kawsar Talaat, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “They’ve stood the test of time.”
A large-scale 2025 study found no increased risk of asthma linked to aluminium-based vaccines. While a 2022 observational study suggested a possible association, it failed to establish causation and excluded many relevant cases.
Why Experts Oppose Removing Aluminium
Scientists warn that eliminating aluminium would require re-developing and re-testing many vaccines from scratch—an effort that could take years and cost billions.
“If you remove aluminium, you’d have to restart clinical trials and manufacturing entirely,” Talaat explained. “Many vaccines simply wouldn’t work as well—or at all—without it.”
Other adjuvants exist but are newer, less abundant, and not approved for all uses. An immediate ban, experts say, would drastically reduce protection against diseases like hepatitis, HPV, diphtheria, and whooping cough.
“I think we’d see outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases,” Talaat warned.
What Vaccines Contain Aluminium
At least 25 vaccines used in the U.S. include aluminium adjuvants, protecting against diseases such as:
- Hepatitis A and B
- HPV (human papillomavirus)
- Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP)
Vaccines that do not contain aluminium include those for COVID-19, MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), polio, rabies, and most seasonal flu shots.
Debunking the Autism Myth
Despite viral misinformation, multiple studies—and the World Health Organization’s vaccine safety committee—have found no link between aluminium in vaccines and autism.
A 2011 study claiming otherwise was later deemed “seriously flawed” by the WHO. “We’ve studied aluminium extensively, and there’s no evidence it causes autism,” Talaat reaffirmed.
Public Health Impact
Experts caution that politicizing vaccine science could erode public trust and endanger lives. Removing aluminium adjuvants, they say, would reduce immunity, increase disease risk, and reverse decades of progress in infectious-disease prevention.
“Science is clear,” Hotez said. “Aluminium makes vaccines safer, not more dangerous.”
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