Newly released text messages from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s government-issued phone show the former White House COVID adviser privately discussing possible risks tied to mRNA vaccines in pregnant women, including a theoretical concern about miscarriage after the second dose.
The January 2021 exchange involved Fauci, then-CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and Dr. Vivek Murthy, who later became President Joe Biden’s surgeon general.
The messages were released Monday by Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., as part of their continuing review of Fauci’s government communications.
Fauci noted that many people experienced significant cytokine-related symptoms and fever after receiving a second dose and said that reaction “theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.”
The disclosure is likely to fuel fresh scrutiny from Republicans who have spent years demanding more transparency about what federal health officials knew, when they knew it and how those uncertainties were communicated to the public.
“The text chain released today could have an immediate impact [on] public health and the principle of informed consent,” Johnson’s press release read.
The senators also raised questions about the broader trove of material recovered from Fauci’s government phone.
The records include roughly 34,000 text messages and 522 voicemails, but only three contacts were identified by name. The remaining messages were associated only with phone numbers.
“It is too early to determine whether any data has been deleted,” the release added.
“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.
BREAKING: Senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul releasing the first batch of texts from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s government iPhone.
In one January 2021 exchange, Fauci, then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy discussed COVID vaccination and pregnant women.… pic.twitter.com/fpZ1PxDZgx
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 10, 2026
“Chairman Johnson, Chairman Paul, and their staffs will work diligently and cooperatively to release relevant information to the public as soon as possible.”
Murthy initially asked whether pregnant women should favor vaccination earlier or later in pregnancy and whether officials had seen evidence of adverse outcomes among women who had already received the shots.
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Fauci responded that there were “no data or theoretical reason” to favor vaccination earlier in pregnancy over later vaccination.
He also rejected concerns that an mRNA vaccine could alter a person’s genes.
Later that evening, however, Fauci raised the issue of fever and the body’s immune response after a second dose, leading Walensky to acknowledge the concern.
Walensky replied that it was “definitely a good point, esp after dose two.”
Murthy also said he had heard concerns about mRNA vaccines causing mutations in a developing fetus and described Fauci’s warning about a cytokine response after the second dose as “a really good point.”
The discussion continued the following day after Murthy flagged a World Health Organization recommendation at the time advising against use of Moderna’s vaccine in pregnant women because of limited available data.
Fauci responded by emphasizing that officials had to balance the potential risks of vaccination against the dangers posed by COVID-19 itself.
He wrote that more than 10,000 pregnant women had already been vaccinated with “no issues” reported and pointed to guidance from the Food and Drug Administration, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists allowing pregnant women to choose vaccination.
Fauci also cited animal toxicology studies that had not produced warning signs.
Murthy later said the WHO recommendation caught him off guard and warned that issuing a strong recommendation against vaccination simply because of limited data could be “potentially quite damaging to public confidence among pregnant women.”
Walensky agreed and said she would raise the issue at an upcoming ACIP meeting.
The texts come as Fauci faces renewed Republican scrutiny on Capitol Hill after invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times during recent testimony despite receiving a sweeping preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden.
Johnson and Paul are continuing to review the thousands of messages and voicemails obtained from Fauci’s government phone, meaning the pregnancy-related exchange may be only the beginning of what lawmakers uncover.
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