Just nine days separated two very different messages from Anthony Fauci. On 25 January 2021, the former White House pandemic adviser privately discussed a possible link between COVID-19 vaccination and miscarriages. On 3 February, however, he publicly stated that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had found "no red flags" among pregnant women.
The newly released messages come from an exchange between Fauci, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky and incoming Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. After making further inquiries, Fauci wrote that strong cytokine responses and fever following the second vaccine dose could "theoretically" be associated with miscarriages during the first trimester.
Walensky replied that it was "definitely a good point", particularly regarding the second dose. Murthy likewise regarded the concern as important. The issue was therefore discussed at the highest levels of the US public health system but was not disclosed to the public.
Reliable safety data on pregnant women were scarce at the time. They had been excluded from the pivotal clinical trials, as is standard practice in medical research. As a result, there was little evidence on which to base assurances about vaccine safety during pregnancy. In January 2021, the World Health Organization also advised against the Moderna vaccine during pregnancy unless the woman faced a particularly high risk of infection or had serious underlying medical conditions. It recommended that pregnant women be informed of the lack of available safety data.
Murthy nevertheless expressed concern that such language could undermine confidence in vaccination. During his public appearance several days later, Fauci neither mentioned the possible link to miscarriage nor Walensky's response. By August 2021, he was saying it was "pretty clear" that pregnant women should be vaccinated.
America's Frontline Doctors, meanwhile, cites the study "Preliminary Findings of mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine Safety in Pregnant Persons", published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 17 June 2021. It notes that, according to the study, "pregnant women receiving vaccines during their first or second trimesters suffer an 82% spontaneous abortion rate, killing 4 out of 5 unborn babies". This constituted strong evidence as early as 2021 of a link between COVID-19 vaccination and miscarriage.
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), jointly operated by the CDC and the FDA, contained more than 3,000 reports of pregnancy loss associated with COVID-19 vaccines as of 26 April 2021.
Germany Recommended Two Doses During Pregnancy
The recommendations issued in the United States also influenced policy in Europe. In September 2021, Germany's Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) adopted a clear recommendation urging all unvaccinated people of childbearing age to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Ideally, vaccination was to take place before pregnancy.
For women who were already pregnant and unvaccinated, STIKO recommended two doses of an mRNA vaccine beginning in the second trimester. Booster doses were later added, together with the recommendation to establish "baseline immunity" through at least three vaccinations or infections. For many women, the decision affected both their own health and that of their unborn child. They were not told that senior US government advisers had previously discussed a possible mechanism for vaccine-related miscarriages.
It was not until July 2026 that STIKO withdrew its general recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination in healthy pregnant women. Annual vaccination, however, is still recommended for women considered to be at increased risk because of underlying medical conditions or pregnancy complications such as diabetes or hypertension. Vaccination is still recommended only from the second trimester onward.
STIKO says the change reflects widespread population immunity and the substantially lower risk posed by the Omicron variants. Between July 2023 and June 2025, Germany's Robert Koch Institute recorded 58 COVID-19-related hospitalizations among pregnant women. None of the women died.
Germany does not collect nationwide data on miscarriages or possible links to COVID-19 vaccination. It has, however, recorded a marked decline in births since the vaccination campaigns began, a trend that remains unexplained.
STIKO nevertheless maintains its assessment that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is safe. It says its review of 201 observational studies involving more than 1.1 million women found no association with miscarriage, stillbirth, or congenital abnormalities. A randomized controlled trial of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy has still not been completed.
The Missing Disclosure
Fauci was aware of the gaps in the available evidence and knew that his colleagues were taking the issue seriously. For pregnant women, there is an important difference between saying that an increased risk has not been demonstrated and saying there are "no red flags". Full disclosure should also have acknowledged the unanswered question of whether severe vaccine reactions during the first trimester could affect miscarriage risk.
Murthy's concern about preserving public confidence in vaccination is particularly significant. Once a government begins selecting information based on how it may influence public behavior, medical guidance becomes political persuasion. Informed consent to any medical intervention requires that uncertainties as well as potential risks be disclosed. Neither occurred in this case with respect to miscarriage risk.
Whether Fauci's conduct amounted to a criminal offense is ultimately a matter for investigators and the courts. Should it be established that unanswered questions were deliberately withheld to preserve public confidence in vaccination, millions of people may have been denied information material to their medical decisions.
Withholding such information may have contributed to miscarriages among women who relied on official recommendations and the advice of their physicians.
US senators now possess a forensic copy of Fauci's government phone containing more than 34,000 text messages and 522 voice messages. Whether any data was deleted remains unclear. During a Senate hearing on July 29, Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times. The committee subsequently voted 8-5 to pursue contempt proceedings against him.
Senator Ron Johnson has invited Fauci to testify again. Should the former adviser decline to appear voluntarily, Johnson has said he intends to issue a subpoena.