Fact Check-FDA did not say unvaccinated individuals are more educated than the vaccinated

Social media users are sharing a quote attributed to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee about unvaccinated individuals being more educated about the COVID-19 vaccine than vaccinated people. The sentiment, however, was expressed by a contributor not related to the government agency.

Examples can be seen here and here .

The text reads: “FDA vaccine advisory board said Friday unvaccinated are more educated on the vaccine than most people who have gotten it, and ‘we cannot adequately refute their concerns, which should make us all very uncomfortable’.”

The posts (most of which are a screenshot of a tweet dated Sept. 19, 2021) likely refer to the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee virtual meeting that took place on Sept. 17, 2021. The FDA posted a video of the meeting on its YouTube page, here .

Advisory committee meetings include an open public hearing session where “general members of the public; individuals or spokespersons from the regulated industry (except the sponsor whose product is under review); consumer advocacy groups; and professional organizations, societies, or associations” can present relevant information, according to the FDA (here).

At the 4:17:00 mark, the video shows Dr Joseph Fraiman, who is described as an emergency medicine physician, presenting during the open public hearing session.

His presentation is titled: “Help Reduce COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Larger Booster Study Needed To Prove Benefit > Harm in All Age Groups.”

During his presentation, Fraiman asks for larger trials to prove that the vaccine reduces hospitalization without serious harm, especially for younger and healthier age groups.

At the 14:17:38 mark, he says: “I know that many think the vaccine-hesitants are dumb or just misinformed. That’s not at all what I’ve seen. In fact, typically, independent of education level, the vaccine-hesitant I’ve met in the ER are more familiar with vaccine studies and more aware of their own COVID risk than the vaccinated.”

At the 4:19:37 mark, Fraiman says: “We need your help on the frontlines to stop vaccine hesitancy. Demand the booster trials are large enough to find a reduction in hospitalization. Without this data, we the medical establishment, cannot confidently call out anti-COVID vaccine activists who publicly claim the vaccines harm more than they say, especially in the young and healthy. The fact that we do not have the clinical evidence to say these activists are wrong should terrify us all.”

But the points made by Fraiman do not represent those of the FDA, as the posts say.

Abby Capobianco, a spokeswoman for the FDA, confirmed to Reuters via email that the individuals who spoke during the open public hearing session were not FDA employees or members of the FDA advisory committee and that remarks were not screened.

“The FDA does not endorse comments made during the public hearing,” Capobianco said. “The public hearing is a chance for members of the public to present data, information or views, either orally during the meeting or in writing, on issues pending before the committee.”

Reuters Fact Check has previously debunked claims that the COVID-19 does not reduce severe illness and hospitalization here .

VERDICT

False. An FDA committee did not say that unvaccinated individuals are more educated about the COVID-19 vaccine than the vaccinated. Similar thoughts were expressed by a doctor unaffiliated with the FDA who spoke during the open public hearing session.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work  here  .