It started slowly at first – a trickle of concerning reports that something wasn’t right. In January 2021, just weeks after the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, cases of myocarditis began cropping up.
Myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – had never been linked to vaccines before. So when 28 cases were reported to the U.S. vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) [1] that month, it raised eyebrows..
By February, the trickle had become a stream. VAERS received 64 more reports, including two deaths [2]. Then in March, Israel [3] and the military [4] started reporting cases too.
Something strange was going on. But the authorities ignored it.
In March, the FDA authorized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine without a whisper of myocarditis [5]. The CDC soon recommended it for all adults [6]. Colleges and businesses started mandating the shots [7]. It was full speed ahead.
Behind closed doors though, alarm bells were ringing. The CDC met with the military to discuss the myocarditis cases in young troops [8]. Israel was reporting dozens of cases, including in teenagers [9]. The FDA knew from Pfizer that there were nearly 60 cases already in its database [10].
But in public, it was denial and dismissal. The CDC director claimed she wasn’t aware of any military cases [11]. Pfizer hid its database numbers [12]. And the FDA rubber stamped authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for teenagers in May without a mention of myocarditis [13].
As myocarditis reports flooded into VAERS in the hundreds during the summer [14], young, healthy people continued being pressured to get vaccinated. Mandates rolled out across the country [15]. The authorities told the public the benefits outweighed the risks [16].
But patients started sharing their stories of being hospitalized with heart problems after vaccination [17]. Researchers began publishing case reports in medical journals [18]. And still, the CDC publicly downplayed concerns [19].
Behind closed doors, officials strategized about monitoring the alarming reports [20]. They expanded the criteria for identifying myocarditis cases [21]. More hospitals confirmed seeing unusual cases in vaccinated youths [22].
In June, the FDA quietly added warnings about myocarditis to the vaccine fact sheets [23]. The news dripped out slowly that CDC advisers now acknowledged a “likely association” [24].
But the full scope remained obscured. The authorities clung to the narrative that benefits outweighed risks [25]. They used incomplete data and rosy assumptions to claim the vaccines were still worth it for young people [26].
