US news: 10 children deaths linked to Covid vaccine? Here's what report says

The FDA has indicated a possible link between COVID-19 vaccinations and the deaths of 10 children, prompting new regulatory proposals. 

Livemint
Published29 Nov 2025, 10:42 PM IST
US FDA memo links 10 child deaths to COVID vaccines. (Representational image)
US FDA memo links 10 child deaths to COVID vaccines. (Representational image)(HT_PRINT)

Days after the US Centers for Disease Control said that the claim 'vaccines do not cause autism' is not evidence-based, the US Food and Drug Administration in an internal memo linked at least 10 children deaths to COVID-19 vaccinations.

According to New York Times report, the internal memo, written by Dr Vinay Prasad, the director of the FDA’s vaccine division, has not been made public, and it did not provide the age of children, or if they had any health issues.

It did not even reveal the name of the vaccine maker.

Prasad, an oncologist, advises the FDA commissioner and other senior officials on emerging medical and scientific issues impacting regulatory science and public health.

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He sent the memo to agency staff members, outlining findings from a review of reports concerning childhood deaths. He attributed them to myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle.

He was further quoted as calling the finding ‘a profound revelation’.

Prasad was a fierce critic of US COVID vaccine and mask mandates, and regained his role as the FDA's chief medical and scientific officer in September.

Meanwhile, the director also said he would propose a range of new oversight and review of vaccines.

According to Reuters, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary confirmed the report during a TV interview.

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Speaking to ‘Fox & Friends’ weekend show, Makary cited data gathered during the Biden administration and said, “There were, it appears, 10 deaths of children from the COVID shots.”

Makary added that the COVID vaccines released in 2020 were ‘amazing for people at risk and for older people’.

"But giving certain COVID shots annually to youths now "is not based on science," he said.

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Robert F. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine crusader before taking on the nation's top health post under President Donald Trump, has also linked vaccines to autism and sought to rewrite the country's immunization policies.

Last week, revising its position on vaccines and autism, CDC said that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)has launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism, including investigations on plausible biologic mechanisms and potential causal links.

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