A bombshell internal Food and Drug Administration memo has surfaced, marking what appears to be the first official acknowledgment within the federal agency that COVID-19 vaccines have caused fatal harm to children. The document, obtained by The Epoch Times, reveals that career scientists in the FDA’s vaccine-safety divisions have identified “no fewer than 10” child deaths they believe are connected to COVID-19 vaccination.
The November 28 memo was penned by Dr. Vinay Prasad, who serves as director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). According to Prasad, this represents the agency’s first internal recognition that the vaccines have resulted in fatal outcomes among pediatric patients.
The revelations contained in the memo go beyond simply documenting child deaths. The document reportedly criticizes what it describes as “cultural and systemic” failures within the agency that allowed early safety signals to remain unexamined for extended periods, potentially spanning years.
This internal acknowledgment comes at a time when vaccine safety, particularly regarding children, remains a contentious topic in public health discussions. The memo’s existence suggests that concerns about pediatric vaccine safety have been circulating within the FDA’s own ranks, even as the agency has maintained public confidence in the vaccines’ safety profile for children.
The timing of this disclosure is particularly significant, as it emerges nearly four years after COVID-19 vaccines first received emergency use authorization in the United States. The document’s criticism of institutional failures to properly investigate safety signals raises questions about the thoroughness of the FDA’s ongoing vaccine monitoring systems.
Dr. Prasad’s memo appears to represent a stark departure from the FDA’s previous public communications regarding pediatric vaccine safety. The agency has consistently maintained that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination in children outweigh the risks, even as reports of adverse events have accumulated in federal databases.
The revelation that career scientists within the FDA’s vaccine-safety offices have identified specific child deaths linked to vaccination suggests that internal discussions about vaccine risks may have been more extensive than previously known to the public.
This development is likely to intensify ongoing debates about vaccine safety transparency and the adequacy of federal oversight mechanisms. Critics have long argued that safety signals were not being adequately investigated, and this internal memo appears to validate some of those concerns from within the agency itself.
The memo’s reference to “cultural and systemic” failures within the FDA points to deeper institutional issues that may have affected how safety data was collected, analyzed, and acted upon during the pandemic response. Such characterization suggests that the problems identified go beyond individual oversights to encompass broader organizational shortcomings.
As this story continues to develop, it raises fundamental questions about federal vaccine safety monitoring and the processes by which agencies investigate and respond to potential adverse events, particularly when they involve the most vulnerable populations like children.



















































