Did the FDA Delay Release of Vaccine Data for 75 years?
Nope, just more disinformation
There is a false claim circulating around on the internet by unscrupulous individuals claiming that the FDA and Pfizer refused to release vaccine information.
The claim that vaccine information, particularly regarding COVID-19 vaccines, was "delayed for 75 years" likely refers to the legal and regulatory process involving the release of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine data submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Here’s a detailed explanation of what happened:
What Actually Happened
Initial FOIA Request (2021):
A nonprofit group, Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency (PHMPT), filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FDA to release data related to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine approval process.
The requested documents included clinical trial data, safety, and efficacy analyses submitted by Pfizer to the FDA as part of the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and later full approval.
FDA's Response and 75-Year Timeline:
The FDA initially proposed releasing the requested data at a rate of 500 pages per month, citing limited resources to review and redact sensitive information (e.g., personal patient data or proprietary information).
Given the extensive size of the dataset (approximately 329,000 pages), the release at this pace would have taken around 75 years to complete.
Court Ruling (2022):
A federal judge in Texas (Judge Mark T. Pittman) ordered the FDA to accelerate the release, requiring 55,000 pages per month instead of 500.
As a result, the timeline for full disclosure was shortened significantly, with most documents released by mid-2023.
Was the Delay Intentional?
No, the delay was not a deliberate attempt to suppress vaccine information:
The FDA’s initial timeline was based on logistical challenges in processing the large volume of documents and ensuring compliance with FOIA regulations (e.g., redacting sensitive data).
The court’s intervention addressed concerns about transparency and expedited the process to meet public demand for timely information.
Why the Controversy?
The original "75 years" timeline sparked skepticism and conspiracy theories among some groups, with claims that authorities were withholding critical vaccine safety and efficacy data. However:
The data was always intended to be made public; the dispute was about the speed of the release.
The court-ordered accelerated timeline ensured much faster access to the requested information.
Conclusion
The "75 years" claim is rooted in a procedural issue and was addressed by legal action that resulted in timely disclosure of the data. The claim circulating on sccial is false and misleading.
As a person who has had to undertake such a redacted document project, I can say it is incredibly laborious and time consuming. For an organization like the FDA, which is quite under-resourced, this must have been a crushing experience for the staff to get this all out. I wish people even took 5-minutes to think about things before making wild conspiracy theory’s and criticisms. Thanks for reiterating this - I have tried to explain this in my social circles & social media, but some people refuse to hear the facts. We just need to keep trying!
Some days, I think I can post something like, Jenner's vaccine contained nanobots and no one will question it. <spoiler alert, totally made up bull>
Nice write up