After a New York Times article exposed Aaron Siri as the guy who petitioned to get a polio vaccine removed from the market, he shot back with a long tweet claiming that IPV (inactivated polio vaccine) was approved without proper safety testing, uses risky production methods involving monkey kidney cells, doesn’t stop the spread of polio, and that the FDA failed to ensure its safety before approval.

Several of Siri’s claims rely on package insert data, as opposed to actual clinical trial information. Vaccine inserts are legal documents and not medical or research documents. He repeats the oft recited claim that vaccines have only been tested for a short time without seeming to understand that the insert does not contain all the results of clinical trials, only what is required by regulations.

Vero cells, first developed in 1962, are one of the most common continuous cell line used to make vaccines. Siri claims that the “cells are susceptible to infection by dozens of viruses,” which is true, but that’s what makes them useful. These cells can be infected by many different viruses, which is why they are so useful for producing vaccines like those for rabies, flu, and yellow fever.

During the vaccine-making process, the cells are carefully cleaned and tested to make sure no harmful viruses end up in the vaccine. After weakening a virus in them, that virus is removed from the cell line. Vero cells are not cancerous, and they are not an ingredient in the vaccines themselves.

One of Siri’s other complaints is that IPOL, an inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), does not stop transmission of the virus. IPOL does not prevent the virus from infecting the intestines the way the oral polio vaccine (OPV) does. Because polio is spread through an oral-fecal route, a person vaccinated with IPV will not get sick with polio, but can pass it through their intestines to others.

However, IPOL does greatly reduce the amount of virus in the throat (called pharyngeal virus shedding). This helps lower the chances of spreading the virus to others. Unlike OPV, IPOL does not carry the risk of causing vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP), a rare condition linked to the oral vaccine.

Additionally, IPV has been proven effective in populations like in the U.S. and in much of the world, where poliovirus has been eliminated.

Anti-vaccine doctor Pierre Kory claims that if you have already had HPV and you get the vaccine, you are more likely to get cervical cancer.

Some claims about the HPV vaccine’s risks come from a study (Study 013) where a small group of people with existing HPV infections had higher rates of cancer-related issues. However, the study also showed that other similar groups did not have these problems.

The HPV vaccine is meant to prevent changes in cervical cells, like CIN (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia), caused by HPV. It does not treat people who already have an HPV infection. In fact, people who already tested positive for HPV and had antibodies against the virus when the study started were less likely to benefit from the vaccine.

The study also found that the group with higher cancer-related issues had more risk factors to begin with, like smoking or previous cervical problems, which likely affected the results. Other studies have shown that the HPV vaccine works very well to prevent cervical cell changes in people who do not already have HPV. This supports the idea that the vaccine is most effective as a preventive tool, not as a treatment for existing infections.

Dr. Kory also claims that women reported developing symptomatic HPV after receiving the vaccine. The HPV vaccine is not a live vaccine and not even a killed vaccine. It is a subunit vaccine, meaning that it contains pieces of the virus. There is no way for the vaccine, which doesn’t contain any live virus, let alone a whole virus, to cause HPV infections. He then cites a study that claims to have found fragments of HPV DNA.

DNA fragments can no more cause an active infection than a car door handle can provide transportation.

An old news report about the Red Cross is recirculating as evidence for the anti-vaccine argument that COVID vaccines wipe out antibodies.

The Red Cross stopped collecting convalescent plasma in 2021, because hospitals had enough supply to meet patient needs, not because the COVID vaccine affected plasma quality. Convalescent plasma is a special part of blood taken from people who have recovered from COVID. It contains antibodies, which are proteins your immune system makes to fight infections like COVID. These antibodies can help sick patients recover by boosting their immune systems. The decision to stop collecting convalescent plasma was based on hospital need and has no connection to vaccines.

Receiving a COVID vaccine does not affect your ability to donate blood, platelets, or plasma. The Red Cross confirms that vaccinated individuals can still donate as long as they are feeling well. Vaccines also do not weaken your immune system or interfere with its ability to fight off COVID. The vaccines do not fight your own antibodies to COVID. Instead, they strengthen the immune system by providing your body with the tools it needs to recognize and fight the virus more effectively.