Why is metal used in vaccines? Is it safe? Here’s what to know about aluminum in vaccines.

Trump administration health officials plan to remove a vaccine ingredient that’s been safely in use for decades, aluminum. 

The Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services has reduced some vaccine access. The agency scaled back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, approved COVID-19 vaccines for fewer people and aimed to remove the preservative thimerosal from U.S. vaccines. Experts told PolitiFact scientific research did not support its removal.^[1][2]

During a Sept. 22 press conference in which President Donald Trump told people not to take Tylenol during pregnancy, he also mentioned another objective: “We want no aluminum in the vaccine,” he said. The administration was already in the process of removing aluminum from vaccines, he added.^[3][4][5][6]

About two weeks later on Oct. 8, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, announced a new working group focused on the childhood vaccine schedule. Its discussion topics include vaccine ingredient safety and “aluminum adjuvants.” ^[7][8][9]

Robert Malone, an ACIP member who has opposed COVID-19 vaccines, told Axios he expected the committee would determine there was “a lot of evidence” of “issues” with aluminum in vaccines. The committee likely would vote to recategorize vaccines containing aluminum adjuvants so that people would have to discuss with their doctor before getting them, Malone told Axios.^[10][11]

That could have far-reaching ramifications. Here’s what to know about aluminum in vaccines.

Q: Why is a metal such as aluminum in some vaccines? 

A: Small amounts of aluminum are sometimes included in vaccines as adjuvants, or substances that boost the body’s immune response to the vaccine to ensure protection from infection. ^[12]

That boost means people can get fewer vaccine doses in smaller quantities. ^[13]

Q: When used, how much aluminum is in a vaccine? 

A: Vaccines with aluminum adjuvants usually contain less than a milligram of aluminum per dose, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. ^[14]

That’s a pretty abstract number. To help make it more concrete: A milligram is one-thousandth of a gram. One gram is about the weight of a raisin or a stick of gum. Imagine cutting one of those items into 1,000 equal pieces. One of the pieces would be about 1 milligram. ^[15][16]

Here’s another way to think about it. 

People come in contact with and consume aluminum all of the time. It is one of the most abundant metal elements in the earth’s crust, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It’s naturally occurring in soil, air and water. Food is the main way people are exposed to aluminum. The average adult eats about 7 to 9 milligrams of aluminum per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ^[17][18][19]

A baby in its first six months might receive a total of about 4.4 milligrams of aluminum from recommended vaccines. In the same period of time, a breastfed infant would ingest about 7 milligrams of aluminum from breastmilk and a formula-fed baby would ingest about 38 milligrams from formula. ^[20]