U.S. Bans Mercury in Vaccines. What About Canada?
“I’ve been trying to get mercury out of fish for 40 years and nobody called me anti-fish.” - Secretary Kennedy
Quotes and full transcript from this HHS announcement are archived at
https://www.ivim.ca/evidence/officials-speak-up/US/hhs-mercury-banned.
The Historic U.S. Decision
Last month, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a sweeping ban on thimerosal—a mercury-based preservative used in flu shots and other vaccines.
Thimerosal’s main component, ethyl mercury, is a known neurotoxin. For decades, it remained in vaccines administered to millions of Americans, including pregnant women and children, despite the absence of any human safety studies.
"After more than 20 years of delay, I’m proud to finally deliver on a long-overdue promise: protecting our most vulnerable from unnecessary mercury exposure." - Secretary Kennedy
In his statement, RFK Jr. cited evidence that:
Thimerosal crosses the blood–brain barrier, metabolizing into the most toxic form of mercury and remaining in the brain for decades.
Mercury exposure in utero is linked to miscarriages, neurological disorders, and autism spectrum disorders.
The amount of ethyl mercury in a single flu shot is 25,000 times the EPA’s safety level for drinking water.
When expired, thimerosal vaccines must be treated as hazardous waste—yet were still injected into children.
The CDC’s own advisory committee voted in June to support the ban. Kennedy approved it last week, breaking decades of regulatory paralysis and bringing the U.S. into line with other developed countries that removed mercury additives long ago.
“The days of ignoring the science are over. The days of putting profits ahead of people are over.” — RFK Jr.
Key Quotes
“Why were we injecting this toxin into babies and pregnant women?”
“The link between thimerosal and neurological injuries in American children, including autism, is biologically plausible.”
“I’ve been trying to get mercury out of fish for 40 years and nobody called me anti-fish.”
And What About Canada?
Here in Canada, this extraordinary public health decision seemed to receive no media coverage.
This raises two important questions:
Are mercury-containing vaccines still available in Canada?
According to Health Canada, mercury-containing thimerosal has been removed from most childhood vaccines. However, multi-dose flu shots containing thimerosal remain available in this country.【Health Canada, Thimerosal in vaccines, 2023】
This means Canadians—including pregnant women and children—may still receive vaccines with mercury-based preservatives that the United States has now banned.
Why the silence?
If Canada had already fully removed mercury from vaccines, media outlets might have highlighted this U.S. decision as confirmation of Canada’s leadership.
Instead, the absence of coverage resembles older models of controlled news environments, such as the USSR, where only negative stories about the USA were allowed while positive developments were hidden from public.
The result is that Canadians are left without clarity. Whether mercury is still being used in vaccines here or not, the fact that such a significant U.S. public health announcement passed unnoticed in our national media is concerning.
And so the question remains:
What about Canada?
References
Health Canada. Thimerosal in Vaccines. Last updated 2023. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/biologics-radiopharmaceuticals-genetic-therapies/vaccines-medicines-thimerosal.html
Kennedy Jr., Robert F. HHS Announcement on Thimerosal Ban. YouTube, 2025.
Acknowledgment
This article was written with assistance from ChatGPT using the prompt: “Summarize HHS announcement to ban mercury in vaccines and explore what Canada is doing with respect to using mercury in vaccines, and why it is silent on this subject—is it because of propaganda practices which are similar to those used in the USSR.”
Based on approximately 1,200 words and 20 minutes of narrated input and collaborative drafting with the author.
ChatGPT was also used to ensure political neutrality, factual accuracy, and alignment with the Public Servant Code of Values and Ethics.
Read more about why and how I use ChatGPT to write my Substack articles here.
Support This Work Across All Channels
If you believe in open dialogue, informed choice, and exploring underreported perspectives, please share this piece. Your support—through follows, likes, and shares—makes a real difference.
Follow me here:
My articles are, and will always remain, free to read.