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FACT BRIEF

Did Fauci admit COVID-19 vaccines may make people worse?

By Dana Ford
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NO

In March 2020, when the vaccines were still in development, Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed a concern that some scientists had at that time: the theoretical possibility, which exists with any vaccine candidate, that the COVID-19 vaccines could be one of a very small number of new vaccine candidates that turn out to make an infection worse. 

To date, there is no publicly available evidence suggesting COVID-19 vaccines do that.

However, a current article writes about a March 2020 video of Fauci talking to Facebook (now Meta) creator Mark Zuckerberg, as if it were current.

His comments stressed the importance of doing clinical trials before rolling out a vaccine and that's what happened with the COVID-19 vaccine, which was approved after being successfully tested for safety and efficacy.

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
CNET Highlights Watch Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Anthony Fauci discuss COVID-19 pandemic - Livestream (March 19, 2020)
Business Insider Fauci pleads with parents to get their children vaccinated as fewer than 1 in 5 eligible American children are protected against COVID-19
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.