Question:
I’ve heard that there isn’t any more mercury in vaccines. Is that true?
I’m supposed to be getting a shingles vaccine soon.
Answer:
The short answer is no, not exactly. More on that in a moment, but let’s first talk about mercury for a moment.
I’m glad to see you taking your exposure to mercury seriously. Mercury is a heavy metal that, similar to lead, can accumulate in your body over time wreaking havoc with your health messing with everything from your muscles to your neurological systems.
For decades now drug manufacturers have been using the mercury-based preservative called thimerosal in vaccines. Which means, of course, that the majority of adults have been exposed to the preservative multiple times over their lifetimes.
There has NOT been a thimerosol ban in vaccines
A rumor that the feds have banned the mercury-based preservative in vaccines has been making the rounds. The truth is much less cut and dry and the rumor is less than a half truth.
The government did finally begin to push manufacturers to begin replacing thimerosal, especially in childhood vaccination. That’s the less than a half truth part. The rest of the story is that the preservative is still being used in the meningitis vaccine, flu shots and others.
The shingles vaccine is thimerosal but not MSG free
The good news is that the shingles vaccine doesn’t contain thimerosal. The bad news is that there are other questionable ingredients in it that you might want to avoid such as
MSG… the very same excitotoxin you make an effort to avoid when you eat Chinese food.
Vaccination is a very personal choice. You have to make the right decisions for you and your family which is why you deserve to have the whole truth about every vaccine BEFORE you roll up your sleeve. For a complete list of vaccines that still contain thimerosal see this CDC report (you’ll have to scroll down a bit).


Latest posts by Dr. Glenn Rothfeld (see all)
- Q&A: Can vitamin C really kill cancer cells? - October 1, 2016
- Q&A: Have they really removed the mercury in vaccines? - September 11, 2016
- Dangerous vitamin deficiency can lead to misdiagnosis - August 20, 2016