While there is some factual basis for claims about historical vaccine testing on vulnerable populations, by omitting important context the claim makes it seem like this was somehow unusual or nefarious. For example, Time magazine reported that Dr. Stanley Plotkin conducted rubella vaccine trials in the 1960s at St. Vincent’s Home for Children (an orphanage in Philadelphia) and later at the Hamburg State School and Hospital, which housed intellectually disabled children. At the time, such practices—testing vaccines on orphans and institutionalized children—were considered acceptable by mid-20th-century research standards, though they are ethically unacceptable by today’s standards.
Modern vaccine development is governed by strict ethical and legal safeguards that did not exist in the 1960s. According to current NIH guidelines on human subjects research, children who are wards of the state may only participate in studies if:
- The research is directly related to their status as wards; or
- The study takes place in a setting (such as a school, camp, or hospital) where most children involved are not wards.
Additional federal protections also apply specifically to research involving pregnant women, fetuses, infants, children, and prisoners.
It's also important to clarify a common misconception: no new abortions or fetal tissue are required for the ongoing production of vaccines. The fetal cell lines used today (such as WI-38 or MRC-5, both derived in the 1960s) are laboratory-maintained and self-sustaining. Further, these cells are used in the research and manufacturing process, but they are not present in the final vaccine formulations (ScienceDirect).
