a link between vaccines and autism
I wasn't aware that anyone still believed this. The subject was settled beyond
reasonable doubt many years ago... some phrases to note in the quote below are "completely discredited", "serious procedural errors", "undisclosed financial conflicts of interest", "ethical violations", and "lost his medical license".
The widespread fear that vaccines increase risk of autism originated with a 1997 study published by Andrew Wakefield, a British surgeon. The article was published in The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal, suggesting that the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine was increasing autism in British children.
The paper has since been completely discredited due to serious procedural errors, undisclosed financial conflicts of interest, and ethical violations. Andrew Wakefield lost his medical license and the paper was retracted from The Lancet.
Nonetheless, the hypothesis was taken seriously, and several other major studies were conducted. None of them found a link between any vaccine and the likelihood of developing autism.
https://www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/understanding-vaccines/vaccine-myths-debunked/