Mercury will no longer be part of flu vaccines in the United States

On July 22, 2025, the U.S. Secretary of Health signed a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to exclude thiomersal from all flu vaccines.

This decision was made after the June meeting of the new Advisory Committee on Immunization (ACIP), CDC. During this meeting, 5 votes were received "for" the exclusion of thimerosal from seven possible ones. 

However, after the vote, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that there was no evidence of harm from the use of thimerosal in flu vaccines.

Thiomersal is a mercury—containing compound used as an antiseptic and antifungal agent. It is used as a preservative in vaccines. 

The exclusion of this compound from vaccines began back in 1999, when it was removed from vaccinations for children as a "precautionary measure", fearing possible consequences for the nervous system.   

Many studies have been conducted to identify a link between thimerosal and any neurological or cognitive impairments, but no link has been identified.  One of these studies took place in Denmark in the 90s of the ХХ century. About 460,000 children took part in it. All the children in the study who received the vaccine with and without the preservative were compared, and no difference was found.

But despite this, in the 1990s and 2000s, thimerosal was removed from vaccines in many developed countries: Denmark (1992), Sweden (1993), Canada (1996), Norway (1999), Austria (2000), Germany, Finland, France (early 2000s), Italy (2003), Great Britain (2004), Japan (mid-2000s), Canada (2005).  

In Russia, thimerosal continues to be used in vaccines. Rospotrebnadzor indicates that ethyl mercury compounds are low-toxic and are well excreted from the body.

The website of the Unified Information System in the Sphere of Procurement reported that the St. Petersburg State Chemical-Pharmaceutical University has submitted an application to conduct a phase II clinical trial of maloben in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. 

112 people will take part in the phase II study of maloben. The study is planned to be completed by 2027. The study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of the drug in tablet form at a dosage of 60 mg. 

The first phase of the study of maloben was conducted at the St. Petersburg Research Center for Eco-Safety and was completed in 2023. The study assessed the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic parameters of the drug. The trial involved 32 healthy people. 

Maloben is a derivative of malonic acid, which has antisteatotic activity (prevention of fat deposition in liver cells). According to Sergei Okovity, head of the Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology at the St. Petersburg State Chemical-Pharmaceutical University, maloben reduces the severity of hepatocyte apoptosis, i.e. their programmed death. In addition, it reduces the accumulation of carbohydrates and lipids. 

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction: lipids accumulate in liver cells (hepatocytes), which in turn leads to lipotoxicity and inflammatory damage to liver cells. 

In 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved only one drug to combat this disease, called Rezdiffra (resmetirom), which is not registered in Russia.