A new report from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed what many parents, doctors, and independent researchers have feared for years: the COVID-19 vaccine may have caused the deaths of at least 10 children. The memo, which was obtained by major news outlets, marks a significant shift in how the federal government is approaching vaccine oversight. And under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the FDA is finally beginning to take long-overdue steps to correct mistakes made during the previous administration’s aggressive vaccine rollout.
The memo states that an initial review of 96 child deaths between 2021 and 2024 found that “no fewer than 10 are related” to the COVID-19 vaccination. It also acknowledges that the real number could be higher due to underreporting and difficulty linking deaths directly to vaccines. While the memo has not gone through peer review and does not yet include detailed data, it represents a rare moment of accountability from a federal agency that, in recent years, has faced criticism for its rushed approval process and lack of transparency.
This development comes after years of concern about vaccine safety, especially for children. During the Biden administration, families across the country were pressured into vaccinating their children through school mandates and workplace rules. Many parents felt they had no choice, even though data consistently showed that children faced an extremely low risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19 itself.
Now, under President Trump’s administration, Kennedy and the FDA are taking a more cautious and science-based approach. Rather than rubber-stamping pharmaceutical products under political pressure, the agency is re-evaluating its protocols and seeking to ensure that any approved vaccine is both safe and necessary.
In a statement, FDA chief medical and scientific officer Vinay Prasad made an important point: “Vaccines are like any other medical product. The right drug given to the right patient at the right time is great, but the same drug can be inappropriately given, causing harm.” That kind of clear-eyed thinking has been missing from federal health policy for too long.
Critics in the medical establishment, like Dr. Paul Offit and Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, quickly pushed back. They claim there is “no evidence” linking COVID vaccines to child deaths and accuse the FDA of being irresponsible. Yet these same experts were silent when the vaccines were fast-tracked without long-term safety studies and when early reports of adverse reactions were ignored or downplayed.
It’s worth noting that the same critics now demanding more data before expressing concern had no such hesitation when pushing the vaccine for every age group as quickly as possible. Their double standard undermines public trust in the medical system and fails to address the real and growing concerns of American families.
Secretary Kennedy has long warned about the dangers of one-size-fits-all vaccine policies. He has pushed for greater transparency, individualized risk assessments, and a rollback of federal mandates that strip decision-making away from parents and states. His leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services signals a return to medical freedom and personal responsibility.
This memo also raises broader questions about federal overreach during the pandemic. Americans were told to “trust the science,” but many now feel that what passed for science was often politics in disguise. The FDA’s acknowledgment of possible vaccine-related child deaths is a step toward restoring trust, not undermining it.
The road ahead will require more than just internal memos. The FDA must deliver on its promise to overhaul the vaccine approval process. That means setting higher safety standards, demanding more rigorous data from pharmaceutical companies, and allowing for open debate about medical risks and benefits.
Most importantly, it means respecting the rights of parents to decide what is best for their children. Federal agencies should support—not override—the decisions of families and states. Under this administration, that principle is finally being restored.
In the end, the FDA’s new direction under Kennedy is not about being “anti-vaccine.” It’s about being pro-transparency, pro-safety, and pro-liberty. And that’s exactly what the American people deserve.
