COVID vaccination, Photo: Shutterstock
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an internal memo that at least 10 children likely died “due to” the vaccination against COVID-19, citing myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, as a possible cause of death, The New York Times reported, citing Reuters.
The internal memo, written by FDA medical and scientific director Vinay Prasad, did not disclose the ages or health status of the children, nor the vaccine manufacturers involved, according to the NYT.
Prasad called the finding “a profound revelation” and announced plans to tighten vaccine oversight, including requiring studies for all subgroups.
The findings of the new FDA review were not published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, the NYT wrote, adding that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine committee will meet next week.
Prasad, an oncologist who has been a vocal critic of the COVID vaccine and mandatory mask wearing in the US, regained his position as the FDA's medical and scientific director in September.
He advises the FDA Commissioner and other senior officials on emerging medical and scientific issues that impact regulatory science and public health.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the FDA, did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment after business hours.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has radically changed government policy on COVID vaccines, limiting access to them to people over the age of 65, as well as those with pre-existing conditions.
Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccination campaigner before taking the nation's highest health post under President Donald Trump, has linked vaccines to autism and sought to rewrite the country's immunization policies.
During Trump's first term, when the pandemic broke out, and under his successor Joe Biden, US health officials strongly advocated vaccines as saving lives.
Public health experts have vehemently disputed claims by Kennedy and Trump administration health officials that Covid vaccines are dangerous, the NYT notes.
Former federal health officials have acknowledged the existence of serious but rare side effects of vaccines, including the incidence of myocarditis among teenagers and young adults.
These public health experts also pointed to the number of lives saved by vaccines and the fact that the virus has caused more than a million deaths among Americans.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately 2,100 children have died from COVID since the start of the pandemic.
