Police raid Guinea-Bissau offices of vaccine researchers praised by RFK Jr

Summary

Judicial police in Guinea-Bissau raided the offices of vaccine researchers who have been praised by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and seized doses of hepatitis B vaccine, officials said on Facebook. The researchers are at the centre of an ongoing dispute over research on African newborns, supported by $1.6m from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and matched by the Pershing Square Foundation and the Bluebell Foundation, for a total of $3.2m. Ars Technica reports that police said the vaccine doses were taken as part of an investigation, and its headline describes the planned trial as unethical.

Timeline

1. The Guardian

   20 Oct 2026, 19:18 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that judicial police raided the Guinea-Bissau offices of vaccine researchers praised by RFK Jr and seized hepatitis B vaccine doses, according to officials who posted on Facebook.

2. Ars Technica

   20 Oct 2026, 21:44 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Guinea-Bissau police raided the office of RFK Jr allies planning what it calls an unethical vaccine trial on babies, and that police said the hepatitis B vaccine doses were taken as part of an investigation.