Hearings to examine Biden Health Officials and COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Signals

Health Care Costs and Drug PricingSenate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations · 2026-04-29 · 119th Congress
Chairman Ron Johnson convened this Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing to release and discuss an interim report titled "Unmasked," alleging that Biden administration health officials knowingly used a flawed FDA data-mining system that concealed statistically significant COVID-19 vaccine safety signals. Begins at 0:22:02
Transcript
Highlights

Title

Chairman's report alleges COVID-19 vaccine safety signal cover-up

Purpose

Chairman Ron Johnson convened this Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing to release and discuss an interim report titled "Unmasked," alleging that Biden administration health officials knowingly used a flawed FDA data-mining system that concealed statistically significant COVID-19 vaccine safety signals. Witnesses included two scientists who examined the "masking" statistical issue and a COVID-19 survivor who testified about severe illness and her support for vaccination, while Ranking Member Blumenthal and other Democrats disputed the report's conclusions and defended vaccine safety and effectiveness. Begins at0:22:02

Who spoke

Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI)0:22:02: Presented the "Unmasked" interim report alleging federal health officials avoided a paper trail0:22:34 and deliberately used an older FDA surveillance system that masked adverse-event signals rather than a newer, unmasking method0:24:34; cited VAERS data showing 17,619 reported deaths as of October 2021 rising to 39,077 worldwide in the updated chart, noting a Harvard-funded study found under 1% of adverse events are reported0:29:03; detailed how Dr. Peter Marks was warned in March 2021 of extreme masking covering ~25 significant safety signals0:30:190:31:19; later questioned witnesses on manufacturing process changes and lack of product liability1:46:421:50:27.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member0:34:55: Argued the report mischaracterizes an internal scientific debate and that vaccines remain safe and effective0:39:09; entered four studies into the record showing vaccines save lives0:40:11; challenged a Commonwealth Fund claim of 3.2 million lives saved using mortality data he called "complete bunk"1:42:011:42:29; questioned witness Maria Young about her experience1:16:26.

Dr. David Wiseman, President, Synechion0:45:08: Explained the "masking" statistical phenomenon using a hemlock/arsenic analogy0:46:11; said Dr. [Emmett/Sharfstein-named "Scharf" in transcript] Chapman warned FDA of extreme masking for deaths, infarction, stroke and dementia and was told to cease and desist0:47:000:47:22; testified Pfizer failed to disclose SV40-derived plasmid sequences1:31:25 and that a required comparability study between "process one" and later manufacturing processes was never done1:48:25.

Dr. Karl Jablonowski, biomedical/health informatics researcher0:51:07: Said COVID vaccines were "pathetically tested," lacking cardiovascular, CNS, blood, and genotoxicity studies0:51:36; said V-safe asked about trivial side effects and could not have altered the rollout regardless of results1:45:23; said 7.7% of 10 million V-safe participants sought medical care after injection, calling this "unusually high"1:46:20; disputed vaccine lives-saved estimates using mortality trend math1:40:38.

Maria Young, COVID-19 survivor0:56:36: Described spending over four months hospitalized, including 70 days on a ventilator/ECMO after severe COVID-19 ARDS in 2020, before vaccines existed0:57:270:57:53; said she remains a vaccine advocate and would get vaccinated again even knowing the risks1:42:56.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH)1:19:37: Argued pandemic school closures harmed children's development and cited zero pediatric COVID deaths in Ohio in that age category0:20:28; asked witnesses about military service members dismissed for refusing vaccination1:24:17.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)1:32:10: Asked whether adverse-event data was concealed to protect corporate interests1:32:10; called pharmaceutical companies' profits amid concealed risks "a disgrace"1:36:00.

Key moments

Johnson's report says FDA officials received a March 26, 2021 analysis finding 49 examples of "extreme masking" and roughly 25 statistically significant safety signals for COVID vaccination, including Bell's palsy, cardiac failure, stroke, and sudden cardiac death0:30:480:31:19.

Johnson cited a comparison chart showing the COVID vaccine's rate of 25.5 deaths per million doses versus 0.46 for the flu vaccine, a 55-fold difference0:28:32.

Wiseman testified FDA officials told statistician Dr. Chapman/"Scharf" to cease and desist her masking analysis, and Dr. Peter Marks called her work "a major distraction" that could fuel "anti-vaccination rhetoric"0:32:420:33:11.

Johnson played video of Peter Marks stating "there is incredible BS out there about thousands of people dying" and denying a clear safety signal existed1:07:51.

Blumenthal disputed the report by entering studies showing no significant stroke association with mRNA vaccines and countered with a letter on elevated stroke risk from COVID-19 infection itself1:13:34.

Blumenthal recalculated a Commonwealth Fund claim that vaccines saved 3.2 million lives, arguing total U.S. deaths actually rose from 2.9 million (2020) to 3.5 million (2021) and 3.3 million (2022), calling the lives-saved estimate "complete bunk"1:41:201:42:29.

Wiseman said Pfizer did not disclose SV40-derived sequences in its manufacturing plasmid to regulators despite FOIA requests from other countries1:31:48.

Jablonowski said the CDC abandoned its own Proportional Reporting Ratio analysis in favor of FDA's, and that VAERS reports jumped from a 30-year historical max of 58,000 to 18 times that in a single year, "washing out" disproportionality analysis0:54:50.

Johnson said 9,000 U.S. military members were dismissed under the Biden administration for refusing COVID vaccination1:24:17.

Wiseman said the Vaccine Safety Datalink saw signals for myocardial infarction and embolism in 2022 but did not publicly report them until a year later1:34:21.

Metadata

CommitteeSenate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Chamber / CongressSenate · 119th Congress
Date2026-04-29
TypeOpen Hearing
Witnesses
(none listed in event metadata)
Videosenate-isvp
Transcript231 caption blocks · 11,357 words · 1:55:07 runtime
EventCongress.gov 338351