Hello again Its all moving so fast and the fear messages being ram-up by the media and WHO and any alternative news not in the mainstream media and censored as much as possible on the internet. So to keep up with this runaway train here goes.
There is a part two to this at the end and it is on another impending event which is about my research away from Covid.
PART THREE
VACCINES
PART THREE
VACCINES
 |
| Courtesy Dave Asprey Blog |
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
·
Even
though the COVID-19 curve has been flattened, mainstream media outlets continue
to push doomsday predictions of an impending explosion of deaths
·
According
to Stanford University's disease prevention chairman Dr. John Ioannidis, the
COVID-19 fatality rate for those under the age of 45 is “almost zero,” and
between the ages of 45 and 70, it’s somewhere between 0.05% and 0.3%
·
So,
the fact that young and middle-aged adults are testing positive in droves is
not a warning sign of an impending onslaught of deaths, as the risk of death in
these age groups is minuscule
·
According
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 mortality —
which had declined for the last 10 weeks straight — “is currently at the
epidemic threshold,” meaning if it declines just a little more, COVID-19 will
no longer be considered an epidemic
·
The
sharp increases in “cases” are not proof of disease spread but, rather, the
spread of testing
COVID-19 mortality — which had declined for the
last 10 weeks straight — is currently at the epidemic threshold, meaning if it
slides down just a little more, COVID-19 will no longer meet the CDC's criteria
for "epidemic" status.
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/07/14/coronavirus-death-curve.aspx?cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20200714Z2&mid=healthrtl20200714z2&rid=915737397
Why we keep getting COVID wrong
Is the testing as it is reliable
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/07/14/ventilators-deadly-for-covid-
This extremely important and going back to the original video stating this.
High Altitude Sickness
 |
| From Article |
The decision to wear a mask is highly personal
and should not be universally mandated; measures that are meant to protect the
community are ineffective if they hurt individuals in that community. Please
email and tweet your state and local officials now and urge them to do their
part to make sure that mask-wearing is voluntary, not mandatory.
"The
current coronavirus disease, Covid-19, has been called a once-in-a-century
pandemic. But it may also be a once-in-a-century evidence fiasco."(1)
https://www.rt.com/news/494566-nasa-proximity-warning-asteroid-moon/?
Even the Skies are busy, comets, asteroids satellites
utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email
Even the Skies are busy, comets, asteroids satellites
utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/07/15/do-masks-protect-you-from-covid-19.aspx?
cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art2HL&cid=20200715Z2&mid=DM593348&rid=916512483
cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art2HL&cid=20200715Z2&mid=DM593348&rid=916512483
WHAT -----MORE LIES and statistics.
July 24th 2020 in shops mandatory
Hi Thieves a real bonus. Difficulty in breathing? 12% oxygen supply to blood after 15 minutes. Asthma, panic attacks and facial recognition.
 |
| Courtesy The Guardian |
Is there a glimmer of an admission here; then add Dr Malcolm Kendrick in POST "NO NUMBER FIVE" and you can see the lies and deceit. Also by Dr Kendrick, the poor outdated PPE sent to care homes.
https://more.talktalk.co.uk/news/2020/07/15/significant-reduction-of-virus-before-lockdown-eased-study-finds
WHEN WILL THEY BE HELD TO ACCOUNT?
PART TWO
SPACEWEATHER.COM Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2020
FOR GRAPHS AND CHARTS
FOR GRAPHS AND CHARTS
SOLAR CYCLE UPDATE: NOAA has released a
new interactive
tool to explore the solar cycle. It lets you scroll back through time,
comparing sunspot counts now to peaks and valleys of the past. One thing is
clear. Solar Minimum is here, and it’s one of the deepest in a century.
Click to explore almost 300 years of sunspot counts
During
Solar Minimum, the sun is usually blank–that is, without sunspots. The solar
disk often looks like a big orange billiard ball:
The spotless sun on
In 2019,
the sun went 281 days without sunspots, and 2020 is producing spotless suns at
about the same rate. To find a year with fewer sunspots, you have to go all the
way back to 1913, which had 311 spotless days. This makes 2019-2020 a
century-class Solar Minimum; solar flares are rare, geomagnetic storms are
almost non-existent, and Earth’s upper atmosphere is cooling.
Some people
worry that the sun could "get stuck" in Solar Minimum, producing a
mini-Ice Age caused by low solar activity. There is no evidence this is
happening. On the contrary, the next solar cycle (Solar Cycle 25) is showing
unmistakable signs of life.
On May
29th, the sun unleashed the strongest solar flare in years–an M1-class eruption
that just missed Earth. The blast came from an active region belonging to Solar
Cycle 25.
An M1-class solar flare on
Observers
are also seeing a growing number of Solar Cycle 25 sunspots. So far in 2020,
the sun has produced a dozen sunspots. Nine of them (75%) have the magnetic
polarity of Solar Cycle 25. This compares to only 17% in 2019 and 0% in
2018. The sun is clearly tipping from
one solar cycle to the next.
A NOAA-led
panel of experts actually predicted
this behaviour. Last year they said that Solar Minimum would hit rock
bottom sometime in late 2019-early 2020. Activity would then quicken in
2021-22, ramping up to a new Solar Maximum in 2023-26.
So far, so
good.
This is another of the changes in the cycles and leading up to the 6th extinction which I go into from POST 370 onward's and years before. (Spaceweather.com merely supply the images which I put to my own theories).
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
·
The blue blood from horseshoe crabs is the only
known source of limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL)
·
LAL is used to detect endotoxins, bacterial
contaminants that can be deadly if they end up in vaccines, injectable drugs or
other medical devices and implants, such as artificial knees and hips
·
Every year, the pharmaceutical industry captures
about 500,000 horseshoe crabs on the East Coast of the U.S.
·
Even using conservative estimates of mortality
caused by bleeding, and combining it with the 13% of bled crabs sold for bait,
at least 130,000 horseshoe crabs may be killed every year by the biomedical
industry
·
Aside from the crabs that die outright, sublethal
effects, including injury and disorientation, decreased spawning and disease,
are also known to occur as a result of capture, handling and transportation,
and may affect horseshoe crabs for weeks following the bleeding
·
Population monitoring studies suggest horseshoe
crab populations decreased more than 10%, or about 1% per year, from 2003 to
2014, although more striking declines of up to 95.3% have been noted in certain
areas
·
A synthetic alternative to the LAL test exists,
and switching to it would reduce the demand for LAL by 90%, which could save
about 100,000 horseshoe crabs from dying every year in North America alone
Spaceweather.com July
18th 2020
THE SYNCHRONIC BANDS OF COMET NEOWISE:
Studies of comets and asteroid fragments and dust buried deep
in the layers of Arctic ice reveal the climate changes and origins of the
source. This is how the cycles of time have been proven. Research done
by Dr Paul LaViolette to follow in three videos further on.
https://www.rt.com/russia/494954-siberia-heatwave-climate-change/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email
In the light of my research I do not feel that the Asteroid impact is applicable and the videos below will bear this out and my research from POST 370 till now as well. THIS IS THE REAL REASON FOR GLOBAL WARMING(we do contribute 10 to 15% to the natural cycles).
he big five mass extinctions
· The big five mass extinctions. ...
· Late Devonian, 375 million years ago, 75% of species lost. ...
· End Permian, 251 million years ago, 96% of species lost. ...
· End Triassic, 200 million years ago, 80% of species lost. ...
· End Cretaceous, 66 million years ago, 76% of all species lost.
Dr Paul
Dr PauL
Dr Paul
https://geofffreedarchive.blogspot.com/search?q=Paul+LaViolette
The above from April 3rd 2011
If you compare the following;
The above from April 3rd 2011
If you compare the following;
Cosmic Rays Solar minimum is underway. The sun's magnetic field is weak,
allowing extra cosmic rays into the solar system. Neutron counts from the University of Oulu
SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Approximately once
a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to
Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the
stratosphere over California
Why are cosmic rays intensifying? The main reason is the sun.
Solar storm clouds such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic
rays when they pass by Earth. During Solar Maximum, CMEs are abundant and
cosmic rays are held at bay. Now, however, the solar cycle is swinging toward
Solar Minimum, allowing cosmic rays to return. Another reason could be the
weakening of Earth's magnetic field, which helps protect us from
deep-space radiation.
COURTESY SPACEWEATHER.COM (see graphs at their site, scroll down to end, they do a daily update with a lot of NASA and Noah backed science, they are University Students and Mentor)
Sun information starts approximately 5hrs in
Nassim Haramein
Nassim Haramein
and you might read on and scroll through POSTS 10,11 and then onto South America and its mysteries further on with the Colonel Fawcett Mysteries.
Thanks for bearing with this long diatribe.
Be Well
Geoff
ADDENDUM
THE BIG ONE
PART THREE
Courtesy You Tube
Nassim Haramein
Way back in 1967 which was the start of my research due to some inspired writing which came to me in which readers who have followed this since then and the many workshops and lectures here and abroad will know that I predicted a new race of humans and gave the date 1967-2012(2012 was a significant date a lot of changes happened after that year) 2013- 2032, 2033-2075 and there have been many POSTS and Blogs on my research in Stargates, wormholes, black holes in our private laboratories and the 6th extinction is in progress and the new race I have named as Homo Energetica / Spiritulana. I have described in synopsis (new race will emerge after 2075 however signs are now emerging) the new race in http://geofffreedarchive.blogspot.com
the last four in the above in January 2013 taken from my extensive notes in the Samye Ling Tibetan Centre at Christmas 1967 and the full story in;
http://www.geofffreed.com/2013/03/post-9.htmlthe last four in the above in January 2013 taken from my extensive notes in the Samye Ling Tibetan Centre at Christmas 1967 and the full story in;
and you might read on and scroll through POSTS 10,11 and then onto South America and its mysteries further on with the Colonel Fawcett Mysteries.
Thanks for bearing with this long diatribe.
Be Well
Geoff
ADDENDUM
THE BIG ONE
PART THREE
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/495443-covid-vaccine-rushed-mandatory-refuse/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email
I do not trust vaccines, only those that have been taken from source and have no adjutants. TESTS TAKE YEARS. See this disclaimer below and I cannot guarantee it works but if enough of us try it could have an impact. This link above lays it out well and the fact that Sayer Ji has warned off of Instagram is serious and with all the scientific backing as well. The UK and USA politicians have been trying to get RT banned and the rhetoric against Russia is howling again with very little if any proof at all.phrases like 'its likely, its presumed, its plausible with no actual proof' It turns out in the Trump election a British firm Cambridge Analytica and Facebook combined to influence the results.
A SHOCKER
thtps://more.talkta t lk.co.uk/news/2020/07/21/weekly-coronavirus-deaths-fall-almost-a-third-in-seven-days---ons
The deaths last year at this time WITHOUT COVID were 5% higher---lock down -- herd instinct----yikes.
Deaths - Office for National Statistics
In Week 27, the number of deaths registered was 0.5% below the five-year average (43 deaths fewer), this is the third consecutive week that deaths have been below the five-year average; the numbers of deaths in care homes and hospitals were also fewer than the five-year average (88 and 634 deaths lower respectively), while the number of deaths in private homes was 755 higher than the five-year ...
DISCLAIMER
Step 1) Do not ‘refuse a
vaccine otherwise you will be considered belligerent. Instead you can politely
decline their services by doing the following.
2) Ask the doctor if the
vaccine has MRC-5 in it (they all do, these are aborted foetal cells and other DNA).
If it does, you have the right to decline.
3) Also ask if there is a
possibility of a ‘latrogenic reaction’ (an adverse reaction caused by multiple
compounds or drugs interacting with each other) from the vaccine (they all
do).when the doctor says “yes it does” that’s ‘your get out of vaccine free
jail card’. Thank the doctor for their offer and walk away.
Remember, doctors have
sworn the ‘Hippocratic Oath’ (which is to do no harm) and they MUST honour it.
This is how we can legally (and respectfully) decline their offered mandated
services and there is absolutely NOTHING they can do about it. Now you know.
Vaccine ingredients
Quicklinks
• Active ingredients
• Added ingredients:
o Aluminium
o MF59
o Thiomersal, also called Thimerosal
o Gelatine
o Human serum albumin and recombinant albumin
o Sorbitol and other stabilisers
o Emulsifiers
o Taste improvers
• Products used in vaccine manufacture:
o Antibiotics
o Egg proteins (ovalbumin)
o Yeast proteins
o Latex (in packaging)
o Formaldehyde
o Acidity regulators
• Growing the active ingredients:
o Human cell strains, animal cell strains and GMOs
o Recombinant DNA technology
o Bovine products
o Other growing media
• Further information
General information
The key ingredient in all vaccines is one or more active ingredients (see below). Apart from this, the main ingredient in vaccines is water. Most injected vaccines contain 0.5 millilitres of liquid, in other words a few drops. All other ingredients weigh a few milligrams (thousandths of a gram) or even less.
Unlike food products, the list of vaccine ingredients may include products used during the manufacturing process, even if they do not remain in the finished product. Added ingredients are present in very small quantities (usually a few milligrams). Products used in making vaccines or growing the active ingredients may not remain in the final vaccine at all. If they do, they are present only in trace amounts.
Vaccine ingredients can look unfamiliar. However, it is important to remember that many of the substances used in vaccines are found naturally in the body. For example, many vaccines contain salts based on sodium and potassium (see the section on 'Acidity regulators'), which are essential for life. People may think of formaldehyde as a man-made chemical, but in small quantities it is also found naturally in the bloodstream.
All vaccine ingredients are present in very small quantities, and there is no evidence that they cause harm in these amounts. The exception to this is the small number of people who may be severely allergic to a vaccine ingredient, even if it is present only in trace amounts (for example, egg proteins or antibiotics used in vaccine manufacture). If you look up some vaccine ingredients on the internet you may read that they could be harmful, but most of them are present in vaccines in amounts that are completely normal for our bodies. Even common salt (sodium chloride), which is essential for normal functioning of the body, is harmful in large quantities.
A list of vaccine ingredients can be found on the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) and Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) sheet for each vaccine. See the list of PILs and SPCs on our links page.
Active ingredients
These are the parts of the vaccine made from viruses or bacteria (also called ‘antigens’). They challenge the immune system so that it makes antibodies to fight the disease (see our animation on 'How do vaccines work?'). Vaccines contain tiny quantities of active ingredients – just a few micrograms (millionths of a gram) per vaccine. To give some idea of how small these quantities are, one paracetamol tablet contains 500 milligrams of the drug. This is several thousand times more than the quantity of the active ingredient you would find in most vaccines. Hundreds of thousands of individual vaccines could be made from a single teaspoon of active ingredient.
Some vaccines contain whole bacteria or viruses. In these cases the bacteria or viruses will either be severely weakened (attenuated) so that they cannot cause disease in healthy people, or killed altogether (inactivated). Many vaccines contain only parts of viruses or bacteria, usually proteins or sugars from the surface. These stimulate the immune system but cannot cause disease.
Compared to the number of viruses and bacteria in the environment that our bodies have to deal with every day, the amount of active ingredient in a vaccine is very small indeed. Most bacterial vaccines contain just a few proteins or sugars from the relevant bacterium. By contrast it is estimated that 100 trillion bacteria live on the skin of the average human being, each of them containing many thousands of proteins which constantly challenge our immune systems.
A few vaccines in the UK schedule are made using recombinant DNA technology. Only one vaccine used in the UK contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Added ingredients
These are products such as aluminium salts that help to improve the immune response to vaccines, or products that act as preservatives and stabilisers (for example, gelatine or human serum albumin). These are listed on vaccine information leaflets as ‘excipients’ (inactive ingredients). Like vaccines, most of the medicines we use also contain excipients. Most vaccines do not now contain the preservative thiomersal (also called thimerosal).
Aluminium, an adjuvant
Many vaccines contain aluminium salts such as aluminium hydroxide, aluminium phosphate or potassium aluminium sulphate. They act as adjuvants, strengthening and lengthening the immune response to the vaccine. Aluminium salts appear to slow down the release of the active ingredient from the vaccine once it is injected, and stimulate the immune system to respond to the vaccine. They also absorb protein well, and stop the proteins in the vaccine sticking to the walls of a container during storage.
Aluminium is the most common metal in the earth’s crust and we are exposed to it all the time. It reacts with other elements to form aluminium salts, and small amounts of these are found naturally in almost all foods and drinking water, as well as in breast milk and in formula milk for babies. Aluminium salts are used as food additives (for example in bread and cakes) and in drugs such as antacids, and aluminium is widely used in food packaging.
Aluminium is not used by the body. Any aluminium absorbed from food or other sources is gradually eliminated through the kidneys. Babies are born with aluminium already present in their bodies, probably from the mother’s blood. Over time, small amounts of the aluminium from food, drink and other sources do accumulate in the body, but this is not believed to pose a significant risk to health (see for example this UK research from 2004 ). The view of most experts is that there is currently no convincing evidence that exposure to everyday levels of aluminium in any form increases the risks of Alzheimer’s disease, genetic damage or cancer.
The amount of aluminium present in vaccines is small - less than 2 milligrams of the salts, and less than a milligram of actual aluminium. In the UK, the highest dose of aluminium that babies receive in one go from vaccines is just under 1.5 milligrams (from the 6-in-1, PCV and MenB vaccines at 8 weeks and 16 weeks). A study from 2011 modelled the impact of aluminium from diet and vaccines in infants, and concluded that the total amount of aluminium absorbed from both sources was likely to be less than the weekly safe intake level. A study from 2002 drew similar conclusions. A study published in March 2018 took samples of blood and hair from 85 babies and measured their levels of aluminium. These levels varied considerably, but researchers did not find any correlation between aluminium levels in blood or hair and the estimated amount of aluminium that the babies had received from vaccines.
Vaccines that contain aluminium are associated with more redness and hardness at the injection site than other vaccines. Rarely, aluminium adjuvants may cause small itchy lumps (granulomas) to form at the injection site. A 2014 Swedish study found that this happened in a small number of children (fewer than 1 in 100) after vaccination with the 5-in-1 vaccine (Infanrix) and pneumococcal vaccine (Prevenar). Granulomas are not dangerous but can be irritating and last for months or even years. The study found that children with granulomas often developed an aluminium contact allergy. However, most children recovered from their symptoms.
Aluminium salts are found in these vaccines used routinely in the UK. The exact amounts of aluminium per dose are listed for each vaccine:
• 6-in-1 vaccine: Infanrix Hexa (0.82 milligrams)
• PCV (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine): Prevenar 13 (0.125 milligrams)
• MenB vaccine: Bexsero (0.5 milligrams)
• Pre-school Booster vaccines: Repevax (0.33 milligrams), Infanrix IPV (0.5 milligrams) and Boostrix-IPV (0.5 milligrams)
• HPV vaccine: Gardasil (0.225 milligrams)
• Teenage Booster vaccine: Revaxis (0.35 milligrams)
• HepB vaccine: HBVaxPro (0.25 to 0.5 milligrams, depending on which version of HBVaxPro is given)
MF59 (squalene oil), an adjuvant
MF59 is used in only one vaccine licensed in the UK: Fluad, a flu vaccine introduced in the 2018-19 flu season for adults aged 65 and older (see the page on the Inactivated Flu Vaccine). Fluad is not a new vaccine; it was first licensed in 1997 and millions of doses have been given worldwide. MF59 is added to the vaccine to make it more effective. It is an adjuvant which helps to strengthen and lengthen the immune response to the vaccine. It may also lead to an increase in common side effects such as pain, swelling or redness at the injection site, slightly high temperature, headache, feeling generally unwell, shivering, or tiredness. However. there is no evidence that MF59 causes more serious adverse effects.
The main ingredient in MF59 is squalene oil, a naturally-occurring oil found in humans, plants and animals. The squalene oil in MF59 comes from fish oil and is highly purified before it is used. Fluad contains less than 10mg of squalene (1mg is one thousandth of a gram).
MF59 also contains very small amounts of these ingredients (around 1mg or less):
• polysorbate 80, sorbitan trioleate and sodium citrate. These are all emulsifiers which stop the squalene oil separating out from the water in the vaccine. Polysorbate 80 and sodium citrate are commonly used in food and drink. Sorbitan trioleate is a compound made from oleic acid (a natural fatty acid) and sorbitol, also found naturally in fruits and other foods.
• citric acid, used extensively in foods and drinks.
Thiomersal, also called thimerosal in the US (a preservative)
Thiomersal is a mercury-based preservative used in tiny quantities in some vaccines to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi which can contaminate from the environment when the vaccine is opened.
Most single-dose vaccines do not contain thiomersal because they are used only once and so there is very little risk of contamination. However, some vaccines are produced in multi-dose vials. There are two reasons for this: they are cheaper, and they are easier to produce quickly in large quantities in the event of an epidemic. Tiny quantities of thiomersal are often used in multi-dose vaccines to stop them becoming contaminated once they are opened.
Thiomersal was removed from UK vaccines between 2003 and 2005, and is no longer found in any of the childhood or adult vaccines routinely used in the UK. Before 2005, thiomersal was present in diphtheria- and tetanus-containing vaccines, as well as hepatitis B vaccine and some flu vaccines. It was not used in the MMR vaccine, the Hib vaccine, the MenC vaccine, the oral polio vaccine or the BCG vaccine. Since 2005, thiomersal has only been present in non-routine vaccines such as hepatitis B, and occasionally in some of the annual inactivated flu vaccines. Thiomersal was present in the Swine Flu (H1N1) vaccine Pandemrix, used in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 flu seasons in the UK. However, it is not present in any of the annual flu vaccines currently in use in the UK.
In the US, UK and Europe, thiomersal was removed from vaccines as a precaution. This was in line with the global goal of reducing environmental exposure to mercury from all sources. However, there was no evidence that thiomersal in vaccines caused harm. Thiomersal contains a compound called ethyl mercury, but concern about mercury in the environment has centred on a different compound called methyl mercury, which accumulates in the food chain and in the human body. More detailed information can be found on the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease website. A study from 2008 showed that the ethyl mercury in thiomersal does not appear to accumulate in the bodies of even very small babies. It is cleared from the blood in 30 days, and the evidence suggests that it is passed out in the baby’s stool (poo).
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA, previously EMEA) have both stated that there is no evidence of risk from thiomersal in vaccines. Read the WHO statement and the EMA statement . There is also detailed information about the safety of thiomersal on the US Food and Drug Administration's pages .
A 2014 Australian study of over a million children found no evidence of a link between thiomersal in vaccines and autism development.
Gelatine (a stabiliser)
Gelatine derived from pigs is used in some live vaccines as a stabiliser to protect live viruses against the effects of temperature. Gelatine in vaccines is highly purified and hydrolysed (broken down by water), so it is different from the natural gelatine used in foods. For example, very sensitive scientific tests have shown that no DNA from pigs can be detected in the nasal flu vaccine (Fluenz). These tests show that the gelatine is broken down so much that the original source cannot be identified.
There have been a tiny number of cases of allergic reaction to vaccines containing gelatine (about one case for every 2 million doses of vaccine). People with a known allergy to gelatine should seek expert advice before receiving vaccines containing gelatine.
Members of Muslim or Jewish religious communities may be concerned about using vaccines that contain gelatine from pigs (porcine gelatine). According to Jewish laws, there is no problem with gelatine or any other animal substance if it is used in a product that does not go into the mouth. Some Muslim leaders have also ruled that the use of gelatine in vaccines does not break religious dietary laws, because it is highly purified and it is also injected or inhaled rather than ingested (eaten). This issue was addressed by a Public Health England statement issued in October 2013.
Gelatine is found in these vaccines used in the UK:
• the Nasal Flu vaccine (Fluenz). However, very sensitive scientific tests have shown that no DNA from pigs can be detected in Fluenz. These tests show that the gelatine is broken down so much that the original source cannot be identified.
• one of the MMR vaccines (MMRVaxPro). (Priorix, the other MMR vaccine used in the UK, does not contain gelatine.)
• the shingles vaccine (Zostavax)
• one of the chickenpox vaccines (Varivax). (Varilrix, the other chickenpox vaccine used in the UK, does not contain gelatine.)
More information can be found in the NHS leaflet 'Vaccines and porcine gelatine' . This information is also available in Arabic , Bengali and Urdu .
Human Serum Albumin (a stabiliser)
Human serum albumin is the most common protein found in human blood. It is currently used in very small quantities as a stabiliser in one of the chickenpox vaccines used in the UK (Varilrix), but this will be phased out during 2019. Human serum albumin comes from blood donors who are screened, and the manufacturing process takes away any risk of passing on viruses from the serum. No viral diseases have ever been linked to the use of human serum albumin.
Recombinant human serum albumin (a stabiliser)
One of the MMR vaccines used in the UK, MMRVaxPro, contains a very small amount of recombinant human serum albumin (0.3 mg per dose). Recombinant albumin does not contain any human or animal products. The albumin is produced by cells (such as yeast cells) that have had the gene for human albumin inserted into them. The cells are then able to generate large quantities of human serum albumin without any need to extract it from human blood.
Sorbitol and other stabilisers
Sorbitol is produced naturally in the human body and also found in fruit and berries. It is commonly used as a sweetener in foods and drinks. In vaccines it is used in small quantities as a stabiliser. There may be up to 15 milligrams of sorbitol in the MMR vaccines used in the UK (MMR VaxPro and Priorix). Sorbitol may also be present in one of the chickenpox vaccines (Varilrix). Sorbitol is usually harmless, but people with an allergy to sorbitol, or with rare inherited problems of fructose intolerance, should not receive vaccines containing sorbitol.
Other products used in very small quantities as stabilisers in vaccines include:
• Sugar (sucrose)
• Lactose (milk sugar)
• Mannitol, similar to sorbitol – see above
• Glycerol, a common non-toxic substance often used as a food additive
• Medium 199, a solution which contains amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), mineral salts and vitamins
• Monosodium glutamate, a salt made from the amino acid glutamine
• Urea, a harmless organic compound found in the human body
Emulsifiers
Polysorbate 80 is a common food additive used in several vaccines as an emulsifier (to hold other ingredients together). Compared to its use in foods, there is very little polysorbate 80 in vaccines.
Taste improvers
The oral rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix) contains about a gram of sugar (sucrose) to give it a pleasant taste. This is about a quarter of a teaspoon of sugar.
Products used in the manufacture of the vaccine
Unlike food products or other drug product listings, substances used in the production of a vaccine may also be listed under ‘excipients’, even though they are not added to the vaccine. However, many of the items listed do not actually remain in the finished vaccine. If they do, they will often be present in trace amounts.
Antibiotics
Antibiotics are used during the manufacturing process of some vaccines to stop bacteria growing and contaminating the vaccine. However, antibiotics which commonly cause allergic reactions (such as penicillins, cephalosporins and sulphonamides) are not used in vaccines. Traces of five antibiotics may be found in some of the vaccines used in the UK. These are neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin b, gentamicin and kanamycin. People with a known allergy to any of these antibiotics should ask for expert advice before receiving these vaccines.
Antibiotics are used in the manufacture of the following vaccines used in the UK:
• The 6-in-1 vaccine (Infanrix Hexa) may contain traces of neomycin and polymyxin b
• The MenB vaccine may contain a trace of kanamycin.
• Both MMR vaccines (MMRVaxPro and Priorix) may contain a trace of neomycin
• The Nasal Flu vaccine (Fluenz) may contain a trace of gentamicin
• Inactivated Flu Vaccines may contain traces of neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin b, gentamicin or kanamycin. Check the Patient Information Leaflet for the vaccine you are offered.
• One of the Pre-school Booster vaccines (Repevax) may contain traces of neomycin, streptomycin and polymyxin b
• The shingles vaccine (Zostavax) may contain a trace of neomycin
• Both chickenpox vaccines (Varivax and Varilrix) may contain a trace of neomycin
• Some of the hepatitis A vaccines may contain a trace of neomycin. Check the Patient Information Leaflet for the vaccine you are offered.
Egg Proteins (Ovalbumin)
Egg allergy is quite common in children under 5, and much more common in children than in adults. Around 60,000 children in the UK have egg allergies. In the UK schedule, both the Nasal Flu Vaccine (Fluenz Tetra) and the Inactivated Flu Vaccine may contain traces of egg proteins. This is because the flu virus is grown on fertilised hens' eggs. Egg-free flu vaccines have been developed but so far they have not been consistently available. Others are also being developed. However, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has now advised that most children with an egg allergy can be safely vaccinated with the nasal flu vaccine (Fluenz Tetra). This is because the ovalbumin content is very low. The only exception is children who have a history of severe anaphylaxis to eggs which has previously needed treatment in intensive care. These children should be referred to specialists for immunisation in hospital. This advice is based on a recent study called SNIFFLE which tested Fluenza Tetra on several hundred children with egg allergy. See more information about the SNIFFLE study and an information sheet from Public Health England showing the ovalbumin content of flu vaccines in the current flu season.
Other non-routine vaccines, such as yellow fever vaccine, may also contain egg proteins. Those with egg allergy should always ask about egg protein content before receiving a vaccine.
In the past, people with an egg allergy were advised not to receive the MMR vaccine. Advice on this changed more than ten years ago. The measles and mumps viruses are grown on a culture which contains chick embryo cells (not on eggs). This means that there is not enough egg protein in the MMR vaccine to cause allergic reactions, so children with severe egg allergies can safely receive the MMR. Doctors have carefully studied this issue and confirmed that there is no increased risk of reactions to the MMR vaccine in children who are allergic to eggs.
Yeast Proteins
Yeast is used in the production of the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) used in the UK. Department of Health advice is that the HPV vaccine can be given to yeast allergy sufferers because the final product does not contain any yeast.
A tiny quantity of yeast protein may remain in the 6-in-1 vaccine (Infanrix Hexa) and the Hepatitis B vaccines used in the UK, but there is no evidence that this can cause allergic reactions.
Latex
Latex (natural rubber) is used in the packaging of some vaccines. For example, the needle tip of the syringe may be protected with a latex bung. This is a risk for people who have a severe allergy to latex (one that causes an anaphylactic reaction), and they should talk to a doctor before receiving a vaccine. People who have less severe latex allergies (for example, a history of contact allergy to latex gloves) are not at risk from latex in vaccine packaging.
In the UK the product information leaflets of the following vaccines state that latex is used in the packaging:
• Hepatitis B vaccines (HBVaxPro and Engerix B)
• MenB vaccine (Bexsero)
Formaldehyde and Glutaraldehyde
Formaldehyde is an organic compound found naturally in many living things. It is used in the production of some vaccines to inactivate toxins from bacteria and viruses (for example, poliovirus, Hepatitis B antigen, and diphtheria and tetanus toxins). It is possible that tiny traces may remain in the 6-in-1 vaccine (Infanrix Hexa), Hepatitis B vaccine(HBVaxPro), one of the Pre-school Booster vaccines (Repevax), and the Teenage Booster vaccine (Revaxis). However, formaldehyde breaks down quickly in water (and most of the vaccine is water).
The human body produces and uses formaldehyde as part of the process of metabolism. The amount of natural formaldehyde in a 2-month-old infant’s blood (around 1.1 milligrams in total) is ten times greater than the amount found in any vaccine (less than 0.1 milligrams). A pear contains around 50 times more formaldehyde than is found in any vaccine.
Glutaraldehyde is a similar kind of organic compound which is also used to inactivate toxins from bacteria used in vaccines. A trace may remain in one of the Pre-school Booster vaccines (Repevax).
Acidity Regulators
Like all other living things, viruses and bacteria need to be kept at the right pH (acid/alkaline level). A number of different products are used in very small quantities to help keep the pH balance right while vaccines are being manufactured. These products include:
• Salts based on potassium phosphate and sodium phosphate. These are common and harmless. As well as keeping the pH balance, they also help to keep the fragments of active ingredient suspended in the water, so that they do not settle out. A product called Hanks’ Salts, which contains these salts and others, is sometimes used.
• Disodium adipate, also commonly used as a food additive.
• Succinic acid, which is involved in several chemical processes in the body.
• Sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid: when these are used they react together to form water and harmless salts, and so do not appear in the final vaccine in their original form.
• Histidine, an amino acid found in almost every protein in the human body.
• Sodium borate (borax): a few micrograms (millionths of a gram) may remain in the Hepatitis B vaccine (HBVaxPro) and the HPV vaccine (Gardasil). This amount is too small to cause any harm.
• Trometamol, also used in the manufacture of other medicines.
Growing the active ingredients
Human Cell Strains
For some vaccines, the active ingredient is grown in laboratories on cultures that contain human cells. Some viruses, such as chickenpox (varicella), grow much better in human cells. After they are grown, the viruses are purified several times to remove the cell culture material. This makes it unlikely that any human material remains in the final vaccine.
For vaccines used in the UK, human cell strains are used to grow viruses for these vaccines:
• the rubella part of both MMR vaccines (MMRVaxPro and Priorix)
• the shingles vaccine (Zostavax)
• both chickenpox vaccines (Varivax and Varilrix)
The cell strains currently used (called WI-38 and MRC-5) were started in the 1960s using lung cells taken from two aborted foetuses. The abortions were legal and agreed to by the mothers, but they were not performed for the purpose of vaccine development.
Some people may have moral concerns about using a vaccine produced in this way. In 2005 the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life issued a statement called ‘Moral reflections on vaccines prepared from cells derived from aborted human foetuses’. This statement says that they believe it is wrong to make vaccines using human cell strains derived from foetuses, and that there is a ‘moral duty to continue to fight’ against the use of such vaccines and to campaign for alternatives. However, it also states that if the population is exposed to ‘considerable dangers to their health’ through diseases such as rubella (German measles), then ‘vaccines with moral problems pertaining to them may also be used on a temporary basis’.
Animal Cell Strains
Viruses for some vaccines are grown in laboratories on animal cell strains. This is because viruses will only grow in human or animal cells. In the UK schedule this applies to these vaccines:
• The polio part of the 6-in-1 vaccine (Infanrix Hexa)
• The polio part of the Pre-school Booster vaccines (Repevax, Infanrix IPV and Boostrix-IPV)
• The polio part of the Teenage Booster vaccine (Revaxis)
• The Nasal Flu vaccine (Fluenz)
• The Rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix)
Viruses for these vaccines are grown on Vero cells. This is a cell strain started in the 1960s using kidney cells from an African green monkey.
The measles and mumps parts of the MMR vaccines (MMRVaxPro and Priorix) are grown on a culture which began with cells taken from a chick embryo.
There is no evidence of any risk that animal diseases can be transmitted by vaccines grown on animal cell strains.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
The only vaccine in the UK schedule which contains GMOs is the Nasal Flu vaccine (Fluenz). The viruses for flu vaccines are usually made by injecting two flu virus strains into an egg and letting them recombine naturally to make new strains. Researchers then look through all the new viruses to see which one has the features they are looking for to make this year’s vaccine. The viruses used to make Fluenz are custom-made by putting together individual genes that will give the right features. This is a quicker and more accurate process.
Recombinant DNA Technology
Recombinant vaccines are made using bacterial or yeast cells to manufacture the vaccine. A small piece of DNA is taken from the virus or bacterium that we want to protect against. This is inserted into other cells to make them produce large quantities of active ingredient for the vaccine (usually just a single protein or sugar).
For example, to make the hepatitis B vaccine, part of the DNA from the hepatitis B virus is inserted into the DNA of yeast cells. These yeast cells are then able to produce one of the surface proteins from the hepatitis B virus, and this is purified and used as the active ingredient in the vaccine. Proteins for the HPV vaccine, part of the MenB vaccine and the hepatitis B part of the 6-in-1 vaccine are produced using a similar technique.
Bovine products
‘Bovine products’ refers to any product that is derived from a cow or calf (such as bovine serum, which comes from cow's blood). Some sources state that bovine products may be present in the media that are used to grow the viruses or bacteria that are used to make the components of some vaccines. The Vaccine Knowledge Project has only been able to find one vaccine currently used in the UK which states that bovine products are used in its manufacture. This is Repevax, one of the Pre-school Booster vaccines available in the UK. The Summary of Product Characteristics sheets (SPC) for Repevax states that bovine serum albumin is used in the manufacture of the vaccine and that trace amounts may remain in the vaccine. This is potentially a risk for people who are severely allergic to bovine products. Other vaccines in use in the UK may use bovine products in their manufacture, but this is not stated on their SPCs.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has issued a series of statements and Q&A sheets on the risk posed by bovine products used in vaccine manufacture . These have been prepared in response to the recognition of BSE in the 1980s and are regularly updated.
Other growing media
Some bacteria do not need to be grown on human or animal cells. Instead they can be grown on cultures that are rich in proteins, vitamins and salts. Cultures that are often used in the production of vaccines are Medium 199, Eagle Medium and Minimum Essential Medium.
Further information
If you have questions about any of the other ingredients or excipients used in vaccines, ask your GP for advice, or contact the vaccine manufacturer named on the vaccine's Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) or Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) sheet. See the list of PILs and SPCs on our links page. In the UK you can also contact the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which regulates medicines, including vaccines, in the UK. See their Customer Service contact list .
An article from 2003 giving further detailed information on vaccine ingredients can be found here .
The information on this page is based on the best information that we can find from the available literature.
Page last updated:
Thursday, January 3, 2019
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© Oxford Vaccine Group 2018
Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine, Churchill Hospital, University of Oxford, OX3 7LE.
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Published by Sarah Loving. Medical content reviewed by Professor Andrew Pollard.
Please click here to contact us if you have comments about the Vaccine Knowledge website. We can’t answer all the individual queries we get, but we will use your suggestions and questions to improve the website. You should consult your doctor or other healthcare provider if you need specific advice on vaccines for you or your child.
The Vaccine Knowledge Project is funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and the Oxford Martin School.
My additional notes;
THE ABOVE ALTHOUGH IN SMALL AMOUNTS ARE BIO ACCUMULATIVE, THEY BUILD UP AND CANNOT BE EXCRETED IN ANY FORM AND REMAIN TOXIC AND COLLECT AND POOL IN THE LIVER AND OTHER ORGANS AND TISSUES. THEREFORE ALONG WITH ADDITIVES, FOOD PRESERVATIVES GRADUALLY AND SOMETIMES WITH AN ALLERGIC REACTION CAUSE TOXICITY AND DISEASE.
Vaccine ingredients
Quicklinks
• Active ingredients
• Added ingredients:
o Aluminium
o MF59
o Thiomersal, also called Thimerosal
o Gelatine
o Human serum albumin and recombinant albumin
o Sorbitol and other stabilisers
o Emulsifiers
o Taste improvers
• Products used in vaccine manufacture:
o Antibiotics
o Egg proteins (ovalbumin)
o Yeast proteins
o Latex (in packaging)
o Formaldehyde
o Acidity regulators
• Growing the active ingredients:
o Human cell strains, animal cell strains and GMOs
o Recombinant DNA technology
o Bovine products
o Other growing media
• Further information
General information
The key ingredient in all vaccines is one or more active ingredients (see below). Apart from this, the main ingredient in vaccines is water. Most injected vaccines contain 0.5 millilitres of liquid, in other words a few drops. All other ingredients weigh a few milligrams (thousandths of a gram) or even less.
Unlike food products, the list of vaccine ingredients may include products used during the manufacturing process, even if they do not remain in the finished product. Added ingredients are present in very small quantities (usually a few milligrams). Products used in making vaccines or growing the active ingredients may not remain in the final vaccine at all. If they do, they are present only in trace amounts.
Vaccine ingredients can look unfamiliar. However, it is important to remember that many of the substances used in vaccines are found naturally in the body. For example, many vaccines contain salts based on sodium and potassium (see the section on 'Acidity regulators'), which are essential for life. People may think of formaldehyde as a man-made chemical, but in small quantities it is also found naturally in the bloodstream.
All vaccine ingredients are present in very small quantities, and there is no evidence that they cause harm in these amounts. The exception to this is the small number of people who may be severely allergic to a vaccine ingredient, even if it is present only in trace amounts (for example, egg proteins or antibiotics used in vaccine manufacture). If you look up some vaccine ingredients on the internet you may read that they could be harmful, but most of them are present in vaccines in amounts that are completely normal for our bodies. Even common salt (sodium chloride), which is essential for normal functioning of the body, is harmful in large quantities.
A list of vaccine ingredients can be found on the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) and Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) sheet for each vaccine. See the list of PILs and SPCs on our links page.
Active ingredients
These are the parts of the vaccine made from viruses or bacteria (also called ‘antigens’). They challenge the immune system so that it makes antibodies to fight the disease (see our animation on 'How do vaccines work?'). Vaccines contain tiny quantities of active ingredients – just a few micrograms (millionths of a gram) per vaccine. To give some idea of how small these quantities are, one paracetamol tablet contains 500 milligrams of the drug. This is several thousand times more than the quantity of the active ingredient you would find in most vaccines. Hundreds of thousands of individual vaccines could be made from a single teaspoon of active ingredient.
Some vaccines contain whole bacteria or viruses. In these cases the bacteria or viruses will either be severely weakened (attenuated) so that they cannot cause disease in healthy people, or killed altogether (inactivated). Many vaccines contain only parts of viruses or bacteria, usually proteins or sugars from the surface. These stimulate the immune system but cannot cause disease.
Compared to the number of viruses and bacteria in the environment that our bodies have to deal with every day, the amount of active ingredient in a vaccine is very small indeed. Most bacterial vaccines contain just a few proteins or sugars from the relevant bacterium. By contrast it is estimated that 100 trillion bacteria live on the skin of the average human being, each of them containing many thousands of proteins which constantly challenge our immune systems.
A few vaccines in the UK schedule are made using recombinant DNA technology. Only one vaccine used in the UK contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Added ingredients
These are products such as aluminium salts that help to improve the immune response to vaccines, or products that act as preservatives and stabilisers (for example, gelatine or human serum albumin). These are listed on vaccine information leaflets as ‘excipients’ (inactive ingredients). Like vaccines, most of the medicines we use also contain excipients. Most vaccines do not now contain the preservative thiomersal (also called thimerosal).
Aluminium, an adjuvant
Many vaccines contain aluminium salts such as aluminium hydroxide, aluminium phosphate or potassium aluminium sulphate. They act as adjuvants, strengthening and lengthening the immune response to the vaccine. Aluminium salts appear to slow down the release of the active ingredient from the vaccine once it is injected, and stimulate the immune system to respond to the vaccine. They also absorb protein well, and stop the proteins in the vaccine sticking to the walls of a container during storage.
Aluminium is the most common metal in the earth’s crust and we are exposed to it all the time. It reacts with other elements to form aluminium salts, and small amounts of these are found naturally in almost all foods and drinking water, as well as in breast milk and in formula milk for babies. Aluminium salts are used as food additives (for example in bread and cakes) and in drugs such as antacids, and aluminium is widely used in food packaging.
Aluminium is not used by the body. Any aluminium absorbed from food or other sources is gradually eliminated through the kidneys. Babies are born with aluminium already present in their bodies, probably from the mother’s blood. Over time, small amounts of the aluminium from food, drink and other sources do accumulate in the body, but this is not believed to pose a significant risk to health (see for example this UK research from 2004 ). The view of most experts is that there is currently no convincing evidence that exposure to everyday levels of aluminium in any form increases the risks of Alzheimer’s disease, genetic damage or cancer.
The amount of aluminium present in vaccines is small - less than 2 milligrams of the salts, and less than a milligram of actual aluminium. In the UK, the highest dose of aluminium that babies receive in one go from vaccines is just under 1.5 milligrams (from the 6-in-1, PCV and MenB vaccines at 8 weeks and 16 weeks). A study from 2011 modelled the impact of aluminium from diet and vaccines in infants, and concluded that the total amount of aluminium absorbed from both sources was likely to be less than the weekly safe intake level. A study from 2002 drew similar conclusions. A study published in March 2018 took samples of blood and hair from 85 babies and measured their levels of aluminium. These levels varied considerably, but researchers did not find any correlation between aluminium levels in blood or hair and the estimated amount of aluminium that the babies had received from vaccines.
Vaccines that contain aluminium are associated with more redness and hardness at the injection site than other vaccines. Rarely, aluminium adjuvants may cause small itchy lumps (granulomas) to form at the injection site. A 2014 Swedish study found that this happened in a small number of children (fewer than 1 in 100) after vaccination with the 5-in-1 vaccine (Infanrix) and pneumococcal vaccine (Prevenar). Granulomas are not dangerous but can be irritating and last for months or even years. The study found that children with granulomas often developed an aluminium contact allergy. However, most children recovered from their symptoms.
Aluminium salts are found in these vaccines used routinely in the UK. The exact amounts of aluminium per dose are listed for each vaccine:
• 6-in-1 vaccine: Infanrix Hexa (0.82 milligrams)
• PCV (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine): Prevenar 13 (0.125 milligrams)
• MenB vaccine: Bexsero (0.5 milligrams)
• Pre-school Booster vaccines: Repevax (0.33 milligrams), Infanrix IPV (0.5 milligrams) and Boostrix-IPV (0.5 milligrams)
• HPV vaccine: Gardasil (0.225 milligrams)
• Teenage Booster vaccine: Revaxis (0.35 milligrams)
• HepB vaccine: HBVaxPro (0.25 to 0.5 milligrams, depending on which version of HBVaxPro is given)
MF59 (squalene oil), an adjuvant
MF59 is used in only one vaccine licensed in the UK: Fluad, a flu vaccine introduced in the 2018-19 flu season for adults aged 65 and older (see the page on the Inactivated Flu Vaccine). Fluad is not a new vaccine; it was first licensed in 1997 and millions of doses have been given worldwide. MF59 is added to the vaccine to make it more effective. It is an adjuvant which helps to strengthen and lengthen the immune response to the vaccine. It may also lead to an increase in common side effects such as pain, swelling or redness at the injection site, slightly high temperature, headache, feeling generally unwell, shivering, or tiredness. However. there is no evidence that MF59 causes more serious adverse effects.
The main ingredient in MF59 is squalene oil, a naturally-occurring oil found in humans, plants and animals. The squalene oil in MF59 comes from fish oil and is highly purified before it is used. Fluad contains less than 10mg of squalene (1mg is one thousandth of a gram).
MF59 also contains very small amounts of these ingredients (around 1mg or less):
• polysorbate 80, sorbitan trioleate and sodium citrate. These are all emulsifiers which stop the squalene oil separating out from the water in the vaccine. Polysorbate 80 and sodium citrate are commonly used in food and drink. Sorbitan trioleate is a compound made from oleic acid (a natural fatty acid) and sorbitol, also found naturally in fruits and other foods.
• citric acid, used extensively in foods and drinks.
Thiomersal, also called thimerosal in the US (a preservative)
Thiomersal is a mercury-based preservative used in tiny quantities in some vaccines to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi which can contaminate from the environment when the vaccine is opened.
Most single-dose vaccines do not contain thiomersal because they are used only once and so there is very little risk of contamination. However, some vaccines are produced in multi-dose vials. There are two reasons for this: they are cheaper, and they are easier to produce quickly in large quantities in the event of an epidemic. Tiny quantities of thiomersal are often used in multi-dose vaccines to stop them becoming contaminated once they are opened.
Thiomersal was removed from UK vaccines between 2003 and 2005, and is no longer found in any of the childhood or adult vaccines routinely used in the UK. Before 2005, thiomersal was present in diphtheria- and tetanus-containing vaccines, as well as hepatitis B vaccine and some flu vaccines. It was not used in the MMR vaccine, the Hib vaccine, the MenC vaccine, the oral polio vaccine or the BCG vaccine. Since 2005, thiomersal has only been present in non-routine vaccines such as hepatitis B, and occasionally in some of the annual inactivated flu vaccines. Thiomersal was present in the Swine Flu (H1N1) vaccine Pandemrix, used in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 flu seasons in the UK. However, it is not present in any of the annual flu vaccines currently in use in the UK.
In the US, UK and Europe, thiomersal was removed from vaccines as a precaution. This was in line with the global goal of reducing environmental exposure to mercury from all sources. However, there was no evidence that thiomersal in vaccines caused harm. Thiomersal contains a compound called ethyl mercury, but concern about mercury in the environment has centred on a different compound called methyl mercury, which accumulates in the food chain and in the human body. More detailed information can be found on the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease website. A study from 2008 showed that the ethyl mercury in thiomersal does not appear to accumulate in the bodies of even very small babies. It is cleared from the blood in 30 days, and the evidence suggests that it is passed out in the baby’s stool (poo).
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA, previously EMEA) have both stated that there is no evidence of risk from thiomersal in vaccines. Read the WHO statement and the EMA statement . There is also detailed information about the safety of thiomersal on the US Food and Drug Administration's pages .
A 2014 Australian study of over a million children found no evidence of a link between thiomersal in vaccines and autism development.
Gelatine (a stabiliser)
Gelatine derived from pigs is used in some live vaccines as a stabiliser to protect live viruses against the effects of temperature. Gelatine in vaccines is highly purified and hydrolysed (broken down by water), so it is different from the natural gelatine used in foods. For example, very sensitive scientific tests have shown that no DNA from pigs can be detected in the nasal flu vaccine (Fluenz). These tests show that the gelatine is broken down so much that the original source cannot be identified.
There have been a tiny number of cases of allergic reaction to vaccines containing gelatine (about one case for every 2 million doses of vaccine). People with a known allergy to gelatine should seek expert advice before receiving vaccines containing gelatine.
Members of Muslim or Jewish religious communities may be concerned about using vaccines that contain gelatine from pigs (porcine gelatine). According to Jewish laws, there is no problem with gelatine or any other animal substance if it is used in a product that does not go into the mouth. Some Muslim leaders have also ruled that the use of gelatine in vaccines does not break religious dietary laws, because it is highly purified and it is also injected or inhaled rather than ingested (eaten). This issue was addressed by a Public Health England statement issued in October 2013.
Gelatine is found in these vaccines used in the UK:
• the Nasal Flu vaccine (Fluenz). However, very sensitive scientific tests have shown that no DNA from pigs can be detected in Fluenz. These tests show that the gelatine is broken down so much that the original source cannot be identified.
• one of the MMR vaccines (MMRVaxPro). (Priorix, the other MMR vaccine used in the UK, does not contain gelatine.)
• the shingles vaccine (Zostavax)
• one of the chickenpox vaccines (Varivax). (Varilrix, the other chickenpox vaccine used in the UK, does not contain gelatine.)
More information can be found in the NHS leaflet 'Vaccines and porcine gelatine' . This information is also available in Arabic , Bengali and Urdu .
Human Serum Albumin (a stabiliser)
Human serum albumin is the most common protein found in human blood. It is currently used in very small quantities as a stabiliser in one of the chickenpox vaccines used in the UK (Varilrix), but this will be phased out during 2019. Human serum albumin comes from blood donors who are screened, and the manufacturing process takes away any risk of passing on viruses from the serum. No viral diseases have ever been linked to the use of human serum albumin.
Recombinant human serum albumin (a stabiliser)
One of the MMR vaccines used in the UK, MMRVaxPro, contains a very small amount of recombinant human serum albumin (0.3 mg per dose). Recombinant albumin does not contain any human or animal products. The albumin is produced by cells (such as yeast cells) that have had the gene for human albumin inserted into them. The cells are then able to generate large quantities of human serum albumin without any need to extract it from human blood.
Sorbitol and other stabilisers
Sorbitol is produced naturally in the human body and also found in fruit and berries. It is commonly used as a sweetener in foods and drinks. In vaccines it is used in small quantities as a stabiliser. There may be up to 15 milligrams of sorbitol in the MMR vaccines used in the UK (MMR VaxPro and Priorix). Sorbitol may also be present in one of the chickenpox vaccines (Varilrix). Sorbitol is usually harmless, but people with an allergy to sorbitol, or with rare inherited problems of fructose intolerance, should not receive vaccines containing sorbitol.
Other products used in very small quantities as stabilisers in vaccines include:
• Sugar (sucrose)
• Lactose (milk sugar)
• Mannitol, similar to sorbitol – see above
• Glycerol, a common non-toxic substance often used as a food additive
• Medium 199, a solution which contains amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), mineral salts and vitamins
• Monosodium glutamate, a salt made from the amino acid glutamine
• Urea, a harmless organic compound found in the human body
Emulsifiers
Polysorbate 80 is a common food additive used in several vaccines as an emulsifier (to hold other ingredients together). Compared to its use in foods, there is very little polysorbate 80 in vaccines.
Taste improvers
The oral rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix) contains about a gram of sugar (sucrose) to give it a pleasant taste. This is about a quarter of a teaspoon of sugar.
Products used in the manufacture of the vaccine
Unlike food products or other drug product listings, substances used in the production of a vaccine may also be listed under ‘excipients’, even though they are not added to the vaccine. However, many of the items listed do not actually remain in the finished vaccine. If they do, they will often be present in trace amounts.
Antibiotics
Antibiotics are used during the manufacturing process of some vaccines to stop bacteria growing and contaminating the vaccine. However, antibiotics which commonly cause allergic reactions (such as penicillins, cephalosporins and sulphonamides) are not used in vaccines. Traces of five antibiotics may be found in some of the vaccines used in the UK. These are neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin b, gentamicin and kanamycin. People with a known allergy to any of these antibiotics should ask for expert advice before receiving these vaccines.
Antibiotics are used in the manufacture of the following vaccines used in the UK:
• The 6-in-1 vaccine (Infanrix Hexa) may contain traces of neomycin and polymyxin b
• The MenB vaccine may contain a trace of kanamycin.
• Both MMR vaccines (MMRVaxPro and Priorix) may contain a trace of neomycin
• The Nasal Flu vaccine (Fluenz) may contain a trace of gentamicin
• Inactivated Flu Vaccines may contain traces of neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin b, gentamicin or kanamycin. Check the Patient Information Leaflet for the vaccine you are offered.
• One of the Pre-school Booster vaccines (Repevax) may contain traces of neomycin, streptomycin and polymyxin b
• The shingles vaccine (Zostavax) may contain a trace of neomycin
• Both chickenpox vaccines (Varivax and Varilrix) may contain a trace of neomycin
• Some of the hepatitis A vaccines may contain a trace of neomycin. Check the Patient Information Leaflet for the vaccine you are offered.
Egg Proteins (Ovalbumin)
Egg allergy is quite common in children under 5, and much more common in children than in adults. Around 60,000 children in the UK have egg allergies. In the UK schedule, both the Nasal Flu Vaccine (Fluenz Tetra) and the Inactivated Flu Vaccine may contain traces of egg proteins. This is because the flu virus is grown on fertilised hens' eggs. Egg-free flu vaccines have been developed but so far they have not been consistently available. Others are also being developed. However, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has now advised that most children with an egg allergy can be safely vaccinated with the nasal flu vaccine (Fluenz Tetra). This is because the ovalbumin content is very low. The only exception is children who have a history of severe anaphylaxis to eggs which has previously needed treatment in intensive care. These children should be referred to specialists for immunisation in hospital. This advice is based on a recent study called SNIFFLE which tested Fluenza Tetra on several hundred children with egg allergy. See more information about the SNIFFLE study and an information sheet from Public Health England showing the ovalbumin content of flu vaccines in the current flu season.
Other non-routine vaccines, such as yellow fever vaccine, may also contain egg proteins. Those with egg allergy should always ask about egg protein content before receiving a vaccine.
In the past, people with an egg allergy were advised not to receive the MMR vaccine. Advice on this changed more than ten years ago. The measles and mumps viruses are grown on a culture which contains chick embryo cells (not on eggs). This means that there is not enough egg protein in the MMR vaccine to cause allergic reactions, so children with severe egg allergies can safely receive the MMR. Doctors have carefully studied this issue and confirmed that there is no increased risk of reactions to the MMR vaccine in children who are allergic to eggs.
Yeast Proteins
Yeast is used in the production of the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) used in the UK. Department of Health advice is that the HPV vaccine can be given to yeast allergy sufferers because the final product does not contain any yeast.
A tiny quantity of yeast protein may remain in the 6-in-1 vaccine (Infanrix Hexa) and the Hepatitis B vaccines used in the UK, but there is no evidence that this can cause allergic reactions.
Latex
Latex (natural rubber) is used in the packaging of some vaccines. For example, the needle tip of the syringe may be protected with a latex bung. This is a risk for people who have a severe allergy to latex (one that causes an anaphylactic reaction), and they should talk to a doctor before receiving a vaccine. People who have less severe latex allergies (for example, a history of contact allergy to latex gloves) are not at risk from latex in vaccine packaging.
In the UK the product information leaflets of the following vaccines state that latex is used in the packaging:
• Hepatitis B vaccines (HBVaxPro and Engerix B)
• MenB vaccine (Bexsero)
Formaldehyde and Glutaraldehyde
Formaldehyde is an organic compound found naturally in many living things. It is used in the production of some vaccines to inactivate toxins from bacteria and viruses (for example, poliovirus, Hepatitis B antigen, and diphtheria and tetanus toxins). It is possible that tiny traces may remain in the 6-in-1 vaccine (Infanrix Hexa), Hepatitis B vaccine(HBVaxPro), one of the Pre-school Booster vaccines (Repevax), and the Teenage Booster vaccine (Revaxis). However, formaldehyde breaks down quickly in water (and most of the vaccine is water).
The human body produces and uses formaldehyde as part of the process of metabolism. The amount of natural formaldehyde in a 2-month-old infant’s blood (around 1.1 milligrams in total) is ten times greater than the amount found in any vaccine (less than 0.1 milligrams). A pear contains around 50 times more formaldehyde than is found in any vaccine.
Glutaraldehyde is a similar kind of organic compound which is also used to inactivate toxins from bacteria used in vaccines. A trace may remain in one of the Pre-school Booster vaccines (Repevax).
Acidity Regulators
Like all other living things, viruses and bacteria need to be kept at the right pH (acid/alkaline level). A number of different products are used in very small quantities to help keep the pH balance right while vaccines are being manufactured. These products include:
• Salts based on potassium phosphate and sodium phosphate. These are common and harmless. As well as keeping the pH balance, they also help to keep the fragments of active ingredient suspended in the water, so that they do not settle out. A product called Hanks’ Salts, which contains these salts and others, is sometimes used.
• Disodium adipate, also commonly used as a food additive.
• Succinic acid, which is involved in several chemical processes in the body.
• Sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid: when these are used they react together to form water and harmless salts, and so do not appear in the final vaccine in their original form.
• Histidine, an amino acid found in almost every protein in the human body.
• Sodium borate (borax): a few micrograms (millionths of a gram) may remain in the Hepatitis B vaccine (HBVaxPro) and the HPV vaccine (Gardasil). This amount is too small to cause any harm.
• Trometamol, also used in the manufacture of other medicines.
Growing the active ingredients
Human Cell Strains
For some vaccines, the active ingredient is grown in laboratories on cultures that contain human cells. Some viruses, such as chickenpox (varicella), grow much better in human cells. After they are grown, the viruses are purified several times to remove the cell culture material. This makes it unlikely that any human material remains in the final vaccine.
For vaccines used in the UK, human cell strains are used to grow viruses for these vaccines:
• the rubella part of both MMR vaccines (MMRVaxPro and Priorix)
• the shingles vaccine (Zostavax)
• both chickenpox vaccines (Varivax and Varilrix)
The cell strains currently used (called WI-38 and MRC-5) were started in the 1960s using lung cells taken from two aborted foetuses. The abortions were legal and agreed to by the mothers, but they were not performed for the purpose of vaccine development.
Some people may have moral concerns about using a vaccine produced in this way. In 2005 the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life issued a statement called ‘Moral reflections on vaccines prepared from cells derived from aborted human foetuses’. This statement says that they believe it is wrong to make vaccines using human cell strains derived from foetuses, and that there is a ‘moral duty to continue to fight’ against the use of such vaccines and to campaign for alternatives. However, it also states that if the population is exposed to ‘considerable dangers to their health’ through diseases such as rubella (German measles), then ‘vaccines with moral problems pertaining to them may also be used on a temporary basis’.
Animal Cell Strains
Viruses for some vaccines are grown in laboratories on animal cell strains. This is because viruses will only grow in human or animal cells. In the UK schedule this applies to these vaccines:
• The polio part of the 6-in-1 vaccine (Infanrix Hexa)
• The polio part of the Pre-school Booster vaccines (Repevax, Infanrix IPV and Boostrix-IPV)
• The polio part of the Teenage Booster vaccine (Revaxis)
• The Nasal Flu vaccine (Fluenz)
• The Rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix)
Viruses for these vaccines are grown on Vero cells. This is a cell strain started in the 1960s using kidney cells from an African green monkey.
The measles and mumps parts of the MMR vaccines (MMRVaxPro and Priorix) are grown on a culture which began with cells taken from a chick embryo.
There is no evidence of any risk that animal diseases can be transmitted by vaccines grown on animal cell strains.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
The only vaccine in the UK schedule which contains GMOs is the Nasal Flu vaccine (Fluenz). The viruses for flu vaccines are usually made by injecting two flu virus strains into an egg and letting them recombine naturally to make new strains. Researchers then look through all the new viruses to see which one has the features they are looking for to make this year’s vaccine. The viruses used to make Fluenz are custom-made by putting together individual genes that will give the right features. This is a quicker and more accurate process.
Recombinant DNA Technology
Recombinant vaccines are made using bacterial or yeast cells to manufacture the vaccine. A small piece of DNA is taken from the virus or bacterium that we want to protect against. This is inserted into other cells to make them produce large quantities of active ingredient for the vaccine (usually just a single protein or sugar).
For example, to make the hepatitis B vaccine, part of the DNA from the hepatitis B virus is inserted into the DNA of yeast cells. These yeast cells are then able to produce one of the surface proteins from the hepatitis B virus, and this is purified and used as the active ingredient in the vaccine. Proteins for the HPV vaccine, part of the MenB vaccine and the hepatitis B part of the 6-in-1 vaccine are produced using a similar technique.
Bovine products
‘Bovine products’ refers to any product that is derived from a cow or calf (such as bovine serum, which comes from cow's blood). Some sources state that bovine products may be present in the media that are used to grow the viruses or bacteria that are used to make the components of some vaccines. The Vaccine Knowledge Project has only been able to find one vaccine currently used in the UK which states that bovine products are used in its manufacture. This is Repevax, one of the Pre-school Booster vaccines available in the UK. The Summary of Product Characteristics sheets (SPC) for Repevax states that bovine serum albumin is used in the manufacture of the vaccine and that trace amounts may remain in the vaccine. This is potentially a risk for people who are severely allergic to bovine products. Other vaccines in use in the UK may use bovine products in their manufacture, but this is not stated on their SPCs.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has issued a series of statements and Q&A sheets on the risk posed by bovine products used in vaccine manufacture . These have been prepared in response to the recognition of BSE in the 1980s and are regularly updated.
Other growing media
Some bacteria do not need to be grown on human or animal cells. Instead they can be grown on cultures that are rich in proteins, vitamins and salts. Cultures that are often used in the production of vaccines are Medium 199, Eagle Medium and Minimum Essential Medium.
Further information
If you have questions about any of the other ingredients or excipients used in vaccines, ask your GP for advice, or contact the vaccine manufacturer named on the vaccine's Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) or Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) sheet. See the list of PILs and SPCs on our links page. In the UK you can also contact the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which regulates medicines, including vaccines, in the UK. See their Customer Service contact list .
An article from 2003 giving further detailed information on vaccine ingredients can be found here .
The information on this page is based on the best information that we can find from the available literature.
Page last updated:
Thursday, January 3, 2019
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© Oxford Vaccine Group 2018
Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine, Churchill Hospital, University of Oxford, OX3 7LE.
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Published by Sarah Loving. Medical content reviewed by Professor Andrew Pollard.
Please click here to contact us if you have comments about the Vaccine Knowledge website. We can’t answer all the individual queries we get, but we will use your suggestions and questions to improve the website. You should consult your doctor or other healthcare provider if you need specific advice on vaccines for you or your child.
The Vaccine Knowledge Project is funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and the Oxford Martin School.
My additional notes;
THE ABOVE ALTHOUGH IN SMALL AMOUNTS ARE BIO ACCUMULATIVE, THEY BUILD UP AND CANNOT BE EXCRETED IN ANY FORM AND REMAIN TOXIC AND COLLECT AND POOL IN THE LIVER AND OTHER ORGANS AND TISSUES. THEREFORE ALONG WITH ADDITIVES, FOOD PRESERVATIVES GRADUALLY AND SOMETIMES WITH AN ALLERGIC REACTION CAUSE TOXICITY AND DISEASE.
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- We are the victims of the greatest crimes (hoaxes) in history