RFK Jr. ally petitioned FDA to revoke polio vaccine

• Siri's national law firm advertises 60-plus years of vaccine injury experience and a 90% success rate for winning exemptions from vaccine requirements for clients.
• He's worked on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network, an anti-vaccine group founded by Del Bigtree, another close Kennedy ally.
• Siri's efforts on FDA vaccine approvals was first reported by the New York Times.

President-elect Trump said in a TIME magazine interview published Thursday that he plans to have a "big discussion" with Kennedy about potentially ending childhood vaccination programs.

Context: The polio vaccine, which uses inactivated poliovirus strains, has been in use in the United States since 1955 and is deemed safe and effective. It's led to the elimination of natural polio transmission in the U.S. since 1979.

• Siri's 2022 petition specifically targets IPOL, the only stand-alone vaccine used in the U.S. to protect against polio. Several combination vaccines, which are commonly used in the U.S. to protect against polio and other diseases, would not be impacted.
• Siri's petition against the IPOL polio vaccine asks the FDA to suspend the jab's approval for infants, toddlers and children "until a properly controlled and properly powered double-blind trial of sufficient duration is conducted."
• The petition claims that the studies FDA cited in its 1990 approval of updated polio vaccine don't properly investigate the vaccine's long-term safety.

Zoom out: While Kennedy has tried to distance himself from his previous anti-vaccine views, he's reportedly maintained a close relationship with Siri since Trump selected him as his pick for secretary of Health and Human Services.

• Siri has assisted Kennedy with vetting candidates for other health jobs in the Trump administration from transition headquarters in Florida, per the Times.
• Siri posted on his X feed in response to the New York Times' original reporting.
• "The hit piece begins (and ends) with defending a certain polio vaccine, IPOL, which is not the polio vaccine of old, while playing on fear to distract from the clear safety gaps in licensing this particular product," Siri wrote, noting that the petition was filed on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network and not himself.
• "The petition, if granted by the FDA, would not leave adults or children without a polio vaccine," Siri later told Axios.

• The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

Where it stands: The FDA sent Siri an interim response in February 2023, noting that it had not yet made a decision on his request.

• The request requires "further review and analysis by agency officials," said the letter, signed by Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Reality check: Before a vaccine was developed, polio killed thousands of people and paralyzed another 15,000 annually, according to HHS.

• Children typically get the first of four doses of the polio vaccine at two months old.
• Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, said in a statement Friday that efforts to undermine the vaccine's safety are dangerous and uninformed.
• "Anyone seeking the Senate's consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts," he said.

Editor's note: The story has been corrected to reflect that Aaron Siri's petition on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network only targets the use of IPOL, a stand-alone version of the polio vaccine, on children. It has also been updated with comment from Siri.