❓WHAT HAPPENED: Vaccine stocks dropped sharply after a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) memo revealed a connection between COVID-19 vaccines and child fatalities.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: FDA vaccine chief Vinay Prasad, vaccine manufacturers, and Wall Street analysts.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Memo surfaced on November 28; stock impacts observed on December 1 on Wall Street.
💬KEY QUOTE: “For the first time, the U.S. FDA will acknowledge that COVID-19 vaccines have killed American children.” – Vinay Prasad
🎯IMPACT: Vaccine stocks saw significant declines, with Moderna down six percent, BioNTech down 4.3 percent, Novavax down four percent, and Vaxcyte down 6.6 percent.
Vaccine manufacturers saw notable losses on Monday after a memo attributed to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vaccine chief Vinay Prasad surfaced late Friday, triggering intense market and regulatory debate. The document described what Prasad called a “profound revelation” linking COVID-19 vaccines to “at least ten deaths in children.” In the memo, he wrote, “For the first time, the U.S. FDA will acknowledge that COVID-19 vaccines have killed American children.”
Prasad also included unusually stark language about the agency’s past oversight. “It is horrifying to consider that the U.S. vaccine regulation, including our actions, may have harmed more children than we saved. This requires humility and introspection,” he stated. The remarks quickly rippled through Wall Street, where analysts warned of the potential for sweeping regulatory shifts that could affect future vaccine development and approvals.
By late morning Monday, major vaccine makers were broadly down. Moderna fell around six percent, BioNTech dropped 4.3 percent, Novavax declined about four percent, and Vaxcyte slid roughly 6.6 percent. Analysts have said the memo could prompt the FDA to adopt a more cautious approach, including requirements for larger pre-market trials that measure clinical outcomes.
The controversy comes amid a broader national debate about COVID-19 vaccine policy. In recent months, several reports and advocacy groups have highlighted a range of allegations about vaccine safety, including claims that eye-related adverse events had been linked to the Pfizer shot, and that heart-risk information was being expanded on existing vaccine labels.
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