Ron Johnson

GOP Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky released texts on Monday from Dr. Anthony Fauci on COVID-19 mRNA vaccine concerns for pregnant women.

According to January 2021 texts between Fauci, who was then-director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, then-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, and Dr. Vivek Murthy, who later became surgeon general under then-President Joe Biden, Fauci noted that some pregnant women appeared to have miscarriages in the first trimester after receiving the second dose of the COVID mRNA vaccine.

"I asked around a bit more and another issue came up that you need to be aware of. 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.

Paul shared Johnson's post on X of a screenshot of the text on Monday, noting that the Wisconsin senator "joins me in the latest drop comprised of text messages from Anthony Fauci..."

Johnson wrote in his X post regarding the text, "While I’ve been conducting oversight for years, now that we have the documents and Fauci’s government-issued phone, my investigation has only just begun."

"The phone contains more than 34,000 text messages and 522 voicemails. Oddly, only three contacts are listed; all other text messages are identified only with phone numbers rather than contact names. It is too early to determine whether any data has been deleted," according to Johnson's office.

"To protect the privacy of individuals with whom Dr. Fauci communicated, as well as personal messages unrelated to the public health issues he was involved in, it will take time to carefully review the large volume of information the senators received. Chairman Johnson, Chairman Paul, and their staffs will work diligently and cooperatively to release relevant information to the public as soon as possible."

The text conversation began when Murthy asked Fauci and Walensky about whether there was any reason to prefer vaccination earlier or later in pregnancy and if officials had seen evidence of adverse outcomes among pregnant women who had already been vaccinated.

Fauci responded that there were "no data or theoretical reason" to believe vaccination earlier in pregnancy should be preferred over later vaccination. He added that concerns regarding an mRNA vaccine possibly altering a person’s genes were a misconception.

Fauci mentioned later that evening that there was evidence of issues with the second shot for pregnant women.

Walensky responded that it was "definitely a good point, esp after dose two." Murthy then said that he had been hearing concerns about mRNA causing mutations in an unborn baby and said Fauci’s note about a cytokine response after the second dose was "a really good point."

The next day, after Murthy notified Fauci and Walensky about a World Health Organization recommendation advising against use of Moderna’s vaccine in pregnant women because of limited data, Fauci said that officials had to weigh the potential risks of vaccination against the risks posed by COVID-19 itself.

Fauci added that more than 10,000 pregnant women had already been vaccinated with "no issues" reported, that Food and Drug Administration, CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' guidance allowed pregnant women to choose vaccination, and that animal toxicology studies had not raised concerns.

Murthy responded that the WHO recommendation surprised him and warned that it could be "potentially quite damaging to public confidence among pregnant women." In the last text of the conversation included in the document, Walensky agreed and asked whether she should flag the issue for an upcoming ACIP meeting.