Senator Johnson: Current Children’s Vaccine Testing Standards ‘Completely Inadequate’

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., stated on Tuesday that the newly released vaccine schedule for children represents an “incredibly important first step” but emphasized urgent need to restore public trust in vaccine safety protocols. Speaking on Rob Schmitt Tonight, Johnson urged parents to critically examine long-standing assumptions about vaccine testing methodologies and highlighted serious shortcomings in how vaccines have been studied and approved.

Johnson praised attorney Aaron Siri’s book, Vaccines, Amen, which he described as revealing fundamental flaws in the vaccine approval process. “If you have any questions about what kind of studies have been conducted to ensure the safety and effectiveness of these drugs, you find out they’re just completely inadequate,” Johnson said.

According to Johnson, vaccines currently on the childhood schedule were never tested against true placebo controls but instead compared with earlier vaccines—a practice he called scientifically problematic. “That’s really the next step,” he added. “We have to restore the integrity of those types of studies.”

Johnson predicted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will pressure vaccine manufacturers to meet higher safety standards, arguing that long-term surveillance after approval rarely occurs. “Nobody surveils this long term,” Johnson stated. “Anybody who tries gets killed, vilified in the mainstream media as anti-vaxxers.”

He also criticized pharmaceutical industry influence over federal health agencies, asserting vaccine makers face minimal accountability due to liability protections while generating billions in revenue. “These guys are making millions and billions of dollars off these vaccines,” Johnson said. “They only care about getting these things approved.”

Johnson addressed criticism from Republican colleague Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician, noting medical education often teaches a narrow narrative that vaccines are inherently safe and effective. “I’ve got a great deal of respect for doctors, but they can’t know everything,” Johnson said. “The only thing they teach about vaccines is they’re safe and effective.”

He added many physicians trust federal agencies without realizing how deeply those institutions have been “captured by Big Pharma.” Johnson stressed his goal—alongside Kennedy’s—is not to attack medicine but to protect children through transparency, rigorous science, and honest oversight. “That’s why people like RFK Jr., and people like myself, are willing to stick our necks out,” he said. “We’re trying to protect our children.”