Overview
- Health and Human Services confirmed that the FDA stopped several Covid and shingles vaccine safety studies from being published or presented in recent months.
- FDA scientists and outside data firms analyzed millions of patient records and reported that serious side effects were rare, according to the New York Times.
- Two Covid vaccine studies that had been accepted by medical journals were withdrawn in October at the direction of FDA leadership.
- Senior FDA officials in February declined to approve Shingrix safety abstracts for a drug safety conference, and HHS said the shingles study design fell outside the agency’s purview.
- The decisions track with broader shifts under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including softer Covid shot guidance and reduced vaccine research, which has stirred new questions about transparency and vaccine policy.