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Trump administration pulls studies affirming Covid-19 vaccine safety

EuroNews · · 653 words · By Ali Hasan
Administrative Accountability Public Health Policy Politicization of Science
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/health/2026/05/09/trump-administration-pulls-covid-19-v…

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Name Calling / Labeling 70% confidence
Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

16 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 6
check_circle Corroborated 5
verified Verified By Reference 4
info Single Source 1
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“The New York Times, citing an official at the US Department of Health and Human Services, revealed that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has in recent months halted the publication of scientific studies that confirm the safety of a number of vaccines.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results (Google News, SEJ, and others) confirm that the FDA halted the publication of studies confirming the safety of COVID-19 and shingles vaccines, as confirmed by an HHS spokesman.
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web search NEUTRAL — FDA halts publication of studies on covid, shingles vaccines. FDA officials have blocked publication of several studies supporting the safety of widely used vaccines against Covid-19 and shingles in r…
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZj…
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web search NEUTRAL — Leaders at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially blocked several major scientific studies from going public this week. These research papers confirmed the safety of popular vaccines used to…
https://dailyalo.com/fda-halts-publication-of-vaccine-safety…
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web search NEUTRAL — "The Food and Drug Administration stopped publication of studies about the safety of vaccines to protect against covid-19 and shingles in recent months, a spokesman for the Health and Human Services D…
https://www.sej.org/headlines/fda-halts-publication-studies-…
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“two of the studies that were pulled were among the most prominent and heavily-funded recent government research projects, costing millions of taxpayer dollars.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While evidence mentions funding cuts of $500 million for mRNA development and general reductions in vaccine research funding, there is no specific evidence in the provided text confirming that 'two of the pulled studies' specifically cost 'millions of taxpayer dollars'.
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web search NEUTRAL — In August of last year, the Department of Health and Human Services cut nearly $500 million in government funding. Scientists planned to use that money for advanced mRNA vaccine development. The healt…
https://dailyalo.com/fda-halts-publication-of-vaccine-safety…
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web search NEUTRAL — These were the RCTs that were used to get Emergency Use Authorization. The study compared the vaccine group to the placebo group and found an "absolute risk increase of serious adverse events of speci…
https://americasfrontlinedoctors.org/library/pedia/vaccine-s…
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web search NEUTRAL — The Trump administration has sharply reduced funding for vaccine research and raised questions about vaccine safety and effectiveness under the tenure of Kennedy, who has introduced sweeping changes a…
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/general/us-fda-blocked-publ…
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“The two studies involved ministry-affiliated scientistific analysis of a vast database containing millions of patients' medical records in order to assess the safety of Covid-19 vaccines.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results from 'HHS decision to block vaccine research' and 'FDA vaccine studies censored' confirm that FDA scientists used data firms to review records of millions of patients to assess vaccine side effects.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Starting in January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The global COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine designed to induce immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 vaccines help reduce the risk of severe illness,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccine
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“They concluded that serious side effects associated with the widely used vaccines are extremely rare.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (IBTimes, The Seattle Times) explicitly state that the studies found serious side effects to be 'rare' or 'very rare'.
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web search NEUTRAL — Both studies, the Times reported, found that side effects caused by the vaccines were rare. In addition, HHS officials refused to allow abstracts about a shingles vaccine to be submitted to a drug saf…
https://www.ibtimes.com/hhs-studies-that-found-covid-shingle…
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web search NEUTRAL — They found serious side effects to be very rare. In October, the scientists were directed to withdraw two COVID-19 vaccine studies that had been accepted for publication in medical journals.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/fda-blocked-public…
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web search NEUTRAL — December 31: CDC data shows that serious side effects of Pfizer’s shot are extremely rare in children 5-11.Some risks and minor side effects, such as a sore arm where the vaccine is injected or a ligh…
https://medshadow.org/conditions-treatments/covid/covid-19-v…
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“scientists were ordered in October to withdraw the two studies, even though medical journals had already agreed to publish them”
CORROBORATED
Sources from 'HHS decision to block vaccine research' and 'The Seattle Times' confirm that in October, scientists were directed to withdraw two COVID-19 vaccine studies that had already been accepted for publication in medical journals.
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web search NEUTRAL — FDA scientists working with data firms to review the records of millions of patients determined side effects from the vaccines are rare. But the New York Times reports that in October, scientists were…
https://www.wrtv.com/health/hhs-decision-to-block-vaccine-st…
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web search NEUTRAL — The study was ultimately rejected by Kennedy’s acting CDC director, who claimed to have concerns about the study’s methodology. Similarly at the FDA, two studies on COVID-19 vaccines by agency scienti…
https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/05/trump-admin-censors-m…
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web search NEUTRAL — Festinger, L. (1954). A Theory of Social Comparison. SAGE Journals.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001872675400700202
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“Health and Human Services Department spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in an email quoted by the paper that the studies "were withdrawn because their authors reached general conclusions that are not supported by the underlying data".”
CORROBORATED
Three separate web search results quote HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon stating the studies were withdrawn because the authors reached conclusions not supported by the underlying data.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Stephen N. Miller (born August 23, 1985) is an American political advisor serving as White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor since 2025. He previously served as seni…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Miller
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States federal executive departments are the principal units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States. The executive departments are the administrative arms of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_executiv…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Xavier Becerra (Latin American Spanish: [xaˈβjeɾ βeˈsera]; born January 26, 1958) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 25th United States secretary of health and human services und…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Becerra
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“During his 2024 election campaign, Trump pledged to give prominent anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr a prominent role in the White House healthcare portfolio”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and web search results confirm that during the 2024 campaign, Donald Trump pledged to give RFK Jr. a role in health policy, specifically mentioning letting him 'go wild'.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On July 13, 2024, Donald Trump, then a former president of the United States and the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party in the 2024 presidential election, survived an assassination attempt wh…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Don…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) ran a successful campaign for the 2024 U.S. presidential election. He formally announced his campaign on November 15, 2022, initially …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_2024_presidential…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Robert Stewart Trump (August 26, 1948 – August 15, 2020) was an American businessman and investor. He was the younger brother of Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States, and a l…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Trump
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“announcing his nomination as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services following his win.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and multiple news sources confirm that Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Executive Order 14176, titled "Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.", is an e…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_14176
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954), also known by his initials RFK Jr., is an American politician, environmental lawyer, author, conspiracy theorist, and anti-vaccine activist serving …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his campaign for the 2024 United States presidential election on April 19, 2023. An environmental lawyer, writer, and member of the Kennedy family, he is known for advo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr._2024_pre…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“more than 75 Nobel laureates, along with around 17,000 doctors, publicly rejecting his appointment”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided Wikipedia entries discuss Nobel Prize controversies in general but do not mention a specific public rejection of RFK Jr.'s appointment by 75 Nobel laureates and 17,000 doctors.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since the first award in 1901, conferment of the Nobel Prize has engendered controversy and criticism. After his death in 1896, the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel established that an annua…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_controversies
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since the first award in 1901 year, conferment of the Nobel Prizes, including the Nobel Prize in Physics, has engendered criticism and controversies. After his death in 1896, the will of Swedish indus…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics_controv…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954), also known by his initials RFK Jr., is an American politician, environmental lawyer, author, conspiracy theorist, and anti-vaccine activist serving …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr.
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“Kennedy is known for promoting claims... including the allegation that vaccines cause autism and the notion of "chemtrails"”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia explicitly describes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as an 'anti-vaccine activist' and a 'conspiracy theorist' known for advocating anti-vaccine misinformation. While the specific word 'chemtrails' is not in the snippet, the 'conspiracy theorist' and 'anti-vaccine' labels are verified.
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“linking circumcision to autism”
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“the US Senate narrowly approved his appointment, in a vote that was largely split along party lines.”
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“In February 2025 he forced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to halt its campaigns promoting flu vaccines”
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“an advisory committee composed mostly of figures he had appointed voted to end the body's official recommendation that newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine.”
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“Kennedy dismissed all members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices”
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“Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, described the step as a coup against health institutions.”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.