Health officials hid myocarditis risks from COVID vaccines, report alleges
A new Senate report released by Sen. Ron Johnson on Wednesday revealed that U.S. health officials knew about the risks of myocarditis from COVID-19 vaccines but downplayed the concern and delayed informing the public about the risks of taking the jab. Johnson, who chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has been investigating the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines and subpoenaed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for records relating to COVID-19 vaccine safety data and communications about the pandemic.
The 55-page interim report obtained by Fox News Digital highlighted that Biden administration officials withheld crucial health information from the Subcommittee and the public. Johnson sent over 70 oversight letters since 2021, which he says were either completely ignored or inadequately addressed. The report focused on HHS’ awareness of and response to cases of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination.
According to the report, 2,473 pages of records obtained by Johnson contained evidence of the Biden administration’s efforts to downplay and delay warning the public about the risks of myocarditis associated with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. The report pointed to records from May 2021, in which health officials at HHS discussed whether to issue a formal warning about myocarditis.
Initially, the formal warning about myocarditis was going to be distributed nationwide as a Health Alert Network message, but health officials at CDC and FDA ultimately decided against issuing a formal HAN and instead posted ‘clinical considerations’ on CDC’s website about myocarditis. The report highlighted records showing that U.S. health officials knew about the risk of myocarditis, downplayed the health concern, and delayed informing the public about the risk of the adverse event.
Documents obtained by Johnson also revealed that CDC officials discussed safety signals for myocarditis with mRNA vaccines in April 2021 based on Defense Department and Israeli data but did not take immediate steps to warn the public. The report also mentioned draft meeting notes exchanged between U.S. public health officials in late May 2021 that raised concerns about myocarditis signaling for certain age groups.
The report criticized the Biden administration for waiting until late June 2021 to announce changes to the labels for the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines based on the suggested increased risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, jeopardizing the health of young Americans. As of April 25, 2025, VAERS reported 38,607 deaths and over 1.6 million adverse events worldwide associated with the administration of COVID-19 injections.
The report demanded the full extent of the Biden administration’s failure to immediately warn the public about all COVID-19 vaccine adverse events to be exposed. It emphasized the importance of transparency and making information developed by federal health departments and agencies fully and transparently available to the American people. As more documents become available, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will provide transparency to ensure the public can see the information that is their right to access.
