Fauci texts reveal concern over pregnancy, COVID vaccine

The texts were pulled from a conversation between Fauci, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and former U.S. Centers for Disease Control Director Rochelle Walensky between Jan. 25-26, 2021. Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., released the texts among more than 34,000 messages and 522 voicemails obtained from Fauci as part of a congressional investigation into his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Murthy raised the question to Fauci and Walensky over the safety and effectiveness of taking the vaccine early or later in a pregnancy.

Fauci said there was no data to support a difference in preference between vaccinating early or later in pregnancy. However, he said certain symptoms associated with the vaccines second dose could be associated with miscarriage.

“Since many people have significant cytokines storm and fever after the 2nd dose, this theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester,” Fauci wrote in a text message.

The text messages revealed that Walensky agreed with Fauci’s statement. However, in an interview on Feb. 3, 2021, Fauci said there were “no red flags” associated with the vaccine for pregnant women.

In the private text messages, Murthy mentioned concerns about the vaccine causing mutations in the developing fetus. Murthy sent another message on Jan. 26 where he cited warnings from the World Health Organization about the vaccine potentially being unsafe for pregnant women. 

In response, Fauci acknowledged that animal toxicology studies did not raise any “red flags”

“In any vaccine in which data are lacking in pregnant women one must weigh the potential risks against the benefits,” Fauci wrote. “COVID-19 can be a serious disease especially in pregnancy.”

In an August 2021 interview, Fauci reiterated his support for pregnant women getting vaccinated for COVID-19. He emphasized the effectiveness of the vaccine based on the numbers of people who have been vaccinated without consequence, in an apparent contradiction to his private concerns.

“Look at the literally — literally — tens and tens and tens of thousands of women who have been followed by the CDC who were vaccinated when they were pregnant, there's no indication whatsoever that there's any increase of any adverse issues in a pregnant woman who was vaccinated compared to a pregnant woman who wasn't vaccinated,” Fauci said. “It's really one of those things that's kind of not a close call. It really is pretty clear that pregnant women should get vaccinated.”

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has pushed forward with an investigation into Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the investigation, Paul compelled Fauci to testify before the committee through a subpoena. Fauci refused to testify, pleading the Fifth Amendment right to protect from self-incrimination more than 100 times.

“The text chain released today could have an immediate impact [on] public health and the principle of informed consent,” Paul and Johnson wrote in a statement.

The two senators said they would continue to release messages to the public “as soon as possible” while they dig through communications as part of their investigation into Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.