Senate investigators release Fauci texts on vaccine and pregnancy concerns

Sen. Ron Johnson released text messages from Dr. Anthony Fauci's former government-issued cellphone showing that in January 2021 Fauci privately raised a theoretical concern that reactions following a second COVID-19 vaccine dose could be linked to miscarriage in the first trimester. The messages were part of a conversation with then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and Vivek Murthy, who later became surgeon general, and were obtained by Senate investigators Johnson and Sen. Rand Paul from Fauci's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-era phone. Johnson said the disclosure was an early finding in an ongoing review of the device and that more material could follow, while other Republican officials, including Paul, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, publicly criticized Fauci over the messages. Fauci had also noted at the time there was no data or theoretical reason to prefer vaccination earlier in pregnancy over later, and that more than 10,000 pregnant women had been vaccinated with no issues reported; Murthy separately noted a World Health Organization recommendation against the Moderna vaccine for pregnant women due to limited data.