FDA claims Covid shots killed 10 children and vows new vaccine rules

The director of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division told agency staff in a memo that an internal review found that at least 10 children died “after and because of receiving” the Covid vaccine

The director of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division told agency staff in a memo that an internal review found that at least 10 children died “after and because of receiving” the Covid vaccine.

The 3,000-word memo, obtained by NBC News, was written by Dr. Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. In it, Prasad claims that agency staff determined that “no fewer than 10” of 96 child deaths reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, between 2021 and 2024 were “related” to Covid vaccination. He said the true numbers could be higher, accusing the agency of ignoring the safety concerns for years.

The memo, sent Friday, did not include the children’s ages or medical histories, timelines or documentation for the deaths he references and does not identify the manufacturer of the vaccine. The FDA’s findings have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Experts who reviewed the memo say it is misusing information from VAERS, an unverified reporting system that allows anyone, including doctors, patients and caregivers, to submit entries about adverse events they believe are linked to vaccines. The system’s own website warns that submissions can contain inaccurate, incomplete or biased information.

“This is sort of science by press release,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, calling the memo “irresponsible” and “dangerous.”