Police in Guinea-Bissau raided the offices of controversial vaccine researchers, seizing doses of hepatitis B vaccines amid an ongoing dispute over research involving African newborns. The operation, conducted by judicial police, was confirmed in a social media post by officials, who stated that the search aimed to clarify the circumstances surrounding the vaccines.
Background of the Research
The researchers, praised by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have been at the center of a contentious study supported by $1.6 million from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), matched by funding from the Pershing Square Foundation and the Bluebell Foundation, totaling $3.2 million. The police search occurred on Monday, and officials emphasized that the seizure did not indicate any irregularities regarding the vaccines' quality, safety, or effectiveness.
The Bandim Health Project recently shared a letter of approval for the trial from Guinea-Bissau’s national ethics committee, dated July 14 and signed by committee president Mouhammed Djicó Ould Ahmed. Additionally, a Danish research ethics committee approved the study earlier this month after modifying its rules.
Government Response
Quinhin Nantote, the health minister of Guinea-Bissau’s transitional government, refuted claims that the trial would proceed, stating, "This is not even remotely true." The study, redesigned over the summer, would still withhold hepatitis B vaccines from 7,000 newborns within their first six weeks of life, in a nation where approximately one in five adults are infected with the virus.
