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Former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci is sworn in before testifying at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. on the 29th of last month (local time). / AFP-Yonhap

Controversy over COVID-19 vaccine safety has resurfaced in the U.S. after Republican senators released former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci's old text messages, Fox News reported on the 10th (local time).

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) released texts from Fauci's time as NIAID director that day, alleging that Fauci knew COVID-19 vaccination in early pregnancy could cause miscarriage.

Johnson said that in a January 2021 exchange with then-CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and Dr. Vivek Murthy, then a nominee for U.S. Surgeon General, Fauci wrote that a cytokine storm and fever following the second dose could lead to first-trimester miscarriage.

At the time, Fauci and health authorities publicly maintained that COVID-19 vaccines were safe for pregnant women. Fauci and other experts recommended vaccination for pregnant women in public statements and press releases, stressing that the vaccine did not pose serious risk to either the fetus or the mother.

Johnson claimed that officials privately acknowledged the risk while delivering a different message to the public, calling this disclosure "the tip of the iceberg."

Johnson sharply criticized the situation, saying pregnant women are told not to drink even a single glass of wine, yet were pushed to get COVID-19 mRNA vaccines starting in early pregnancy, calling it truly irresponsible and unjust.

He also cited a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2021, saying that of 827 participants, 104 had miscarriages, but 700 of the 827 had been vaccinated in the third trimester. He argued that of the 127 vaccinated in the first or second trimester, 104 miscarried, putting the actual miscarriage rate at 82%, and claimed the statistics were distorted to mislead the public.

Johnson and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have obtained Fauci's phone from his time as NIAID director and are conducting an investigation.

Paul has pursued a contempt of Congress referral against Fauci after he repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment to decline to answer questions at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. in July, and has referred the matter to the Justice Department.

Johnson said the review of additional materials is ongoing and more evidence is expected to emerge, stressing that the disclosure directly concerns public safety and the public's right to know.

                                                                                                           Park Jin-sook