Pfizer and Moderna stocks drop after officials plan to link Covid shots to 25 child deaths in CDC review
Shares of Pfizer and Moderna have tumbled following reports that twenty-five paediatric deaths are set to be linked to Covid vaccines in a forthcoming presentation to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
This development has also raised questions about the future of vaccine policy in North America, according to CNBC.
The Washington Post reported that Trump administration health officials intend to present data tying Covid vaccines to the deaths of 25 children.
They plan to use information from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a federal database that collects unverified reports of vaccine side effects from anyone, including patients and healthcare professionals.
However, the CDC has emphasized that VAERS is not designed to determine causality, and only thorough investigation by scientists and public health professionals can establish whether a vaccine caused a death.
Following the news, Pfizer’s stock dropped more than 3 percent and Moderna’s shares fell over 7 percent, with Novavax also sliding more than 4 percent, as reported by CNBC.
The presentation to ACIP is not final, and the full methodology behind the analysis remains unclear, according to The Washington Post.
US Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recently directed officials to stop recommending Covid shots for healthy children and pregnant women, while the CDC now instructs parents to consult a doctor before vaccinating their children.
The ACIP’s upcoming recommendations are critical, as they influence insurance coverage, pharmacy administration, and physician willingness to offer vaccines, The Washington Post noted.
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary told CNN that the agency is conducting an “intense investigation” into whether Covid shots have caused deaths in children, but did not provide specific data linking paediatric deaths to the vaccine, referencing only self-reported incidents in the safety system database.
The FDA plans to release a report in the coming weeks.
Despite the heightened scrutiny, Moderna stated that the safety of its vaccine is “rigorously monitored” by the company, the FDA, and regulators in over 90 countries, and that no new or undisclosed safety concerns have been identified in children or pregnant women in the US, Australia, Canada, or Europe.
Numerous studies have shown that mRNA Covid vaccines are safe and effective, with serious side effects occurring extremely rarely, and global surveillance data continue to indicate that the benefits of Covid vaccination outweigh the risks in paediatric populations, as reported by CNBC.
The situation remains fluid, with the ACIP’s recommendations poised to shape vaccine access and policy for the coming year.
