A confidential memorandum from the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division has revealed that agency officials have attributed the deaths of at least ten children to COVID-19 vaccinations. Dr. Vinay Prasad, director of the division, indicated in the Friday communiqué that these fatalities were connected to myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation recognized as a rare vaccine side effect.
The internal document, obtained by The New York Times but not formally released to the public, lacked critical details regarding the children’s ages, pre-existing health conditions, or the methodology used to establish causation between vaccination and death. The memo similarly omitted identification of the vaccine manufacturers involved in these cases.
This development represents a significant policy shift under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longstanding vaccine skeptic who has frequently characterized COVID-19 vaccines as unsafe. The current administration has implemented new policies restricting vaccine access primarily to individuals over 65 and younger populations with underlying medical conditions.
The scientific community remains divided on these findings. Dr. Paul Offit of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia criticized the memo as ‘science by press release,’ noting the absence of contextual data comparing mortality rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Medical experts emphasize that while vaccine-related myocarditis typically resolves quickly, virus-induced myocarditis often requires intensive care treatment.
The timing of the memo’s circulation precedes next week’s meeting of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, now populated with Kennedy-appointed members who support medical freedom principles. The committee is expected to review childhood vaccine schedules, including the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, alongside COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Peter Marks, former FDA vaccine regulation chief, expressed concern about the memo’s ‘clearly political tone’ while acknowledging the need for further scrutiny of these complex cases. The FDA’s internal review was reportedly led by Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, a senior adviser with documented vaccine skepticism, and reviewed by agency teams.