COVID-19 Vaccine Data Issues Are Serious Scandal, Most Believe

Reports that data about COVID-19 vaccine safety were concealed from the public have a majority of voters ready to mete out punishment on government officials involved.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 71% of Likely U.S. Voters believe it’s a serious scandal that senior officials at the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were aware of high numbers of severe side effects from COVID-19 vaccines, and hid the data from the public. That includes 50% who consider it a Very Serious scandal. Twenty-two percent (22%) don’t think it’s a serious scandal, including 10% who say it’s Not At All Serious. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

In April, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations issued a report that chairman Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, said showed “how senior officials at the FDA turned a blind eye toward warnings that their vaccine safety monitoring system was hiding safety signals for the COVID-19 vaccines.” If it is proven that officials at the FDA and other federal agencies concealed data about severe side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, 21% of Likely Voters believe such officials should be removed from their jobs. Eleven percent (11%) think officials who concealed vaccine safety data should have their medical licenses revoked, and another 11% say they should be criminally prosecuted. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say “all of the above.” Just 10% believe officials who concealed data about severe side effects of COVID-19 vaccines should not be punished at all.

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The survey of 1,107 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on August 5-6 and 9, 2026 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) believe COVID-19 vaccines were safe and effective, including 34% who think they were Very Safe and Effective. Thirty-six percent (36%) don’t consider COVID-19 vaccines safe and effective, including 17% who say they were Not At All Safe and Effective.

While a majority (51%) of Democrats believe COVID-19 vaccines were Very Safe and Effective, that level of confidence is shared by only 18% of Republicans and 32% of voters not affiliated with either major party.

Majorities of every political category – 88% of Republicans, 61% of Democrats and 63% of unaffiliated voters – consider it at least a somewhat serious scandal that senior officials at the FDA were aware of high numbers of severe side effects from COVID-19 vaccines, and hid the data from the public.

Majorities of every political category also believe there should be some kind of punishment for officials at the FDA and other federal agencies if it is proven that they concealed data about severe side effects of COVID-19 vaccines. Nearly half (47%) of Republicans favor an “all of the above” punishment, as do 28% of Democrats and 37% of unaffiliated voters.

There isn’t much of a “gender gap” on these questions. Just slightly more men (58%) than women voters (56%) think COVID-19 vaccines were safe and effective.

Majorities of every racial category – 67% of whites, 75% of black voters, 83% of Hispanics and 69% of other minorities – consider it at least a somewhat serious scandal that senior FDA officials hid COVID-19 vaccine safety data from the public. Hispanics are least likely to say COVID-19 vaccines were Very Safe and Effective.

While voters 50 and older are most likely to think COVID-19 vaccines were Very Safe and Effective, they’re also most likely to favor an “all of the above” punishment if it’s proven that FDA officials hit vaccine safety data from the public.

Among those who voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, 83% believe COVID-19 vaccines were at least somewhat safe and effective, but just 35% of Donald Trump voters share that belief.

Harris has widened her lead over her rivals for the 2028 Democratic Party presidential nomination, as support for New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has weakened. 

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is so broke they had to mortgage the party’s D.C. headquarters, and a plurality of voters suspect mismanagement is to blame. 

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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