Robert F. Kennedy Jr will require all new vaccines to undergo placebo testing, WaPo reports

(Reuters) -U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr intends to shift the way vaccines are tested, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a spokesperson from the HHS.

The potential change would require all new vaccines to undergo placebo testing – a procedure in which some people receive the vaccine and others receive an inert substance – before the results are compared, the paper said.

“All new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure — a radical departure from past practices,” a HHS spokesperson told The Washington Post.

The department did not clarify how the change would be implemented and for which vaccines the testing would apply, the paper said.

The HHS did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours.

(Reporting by Harshita Meenaktshi in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates)