The FDA advisory board said unvaccinated people are more educated than most people who have gotten the COVID-19 vaccines.
No, the FDA didn’t say unvaccinated people know more about the COVID-19 shots than the vaccinated
If your time is short
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The Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee met virtually on Sept. 17 to discuss and vote on recommendations for booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.
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The meeting included a public comment session, during which a Louisiana doctor said that vaccine-hesitant people "aren’t dumb" and can be more familiar with vaccine studies than the vaccinated.
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The FDA told PolitiFact that it doesn’t endorse statements made during public comment, and confirmed that none of the individuals who spoke during the public session were FDA employees or members of the advisory committee.
Did the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory committee say that unvaccinated people know more about the COVID-19 vaccines than most vaccinated people?
No, it did not.
But that’s what posts circulating on social media claim.
“FDA 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,’” a Sept. 20 Instagram post reads.
Our ruling
An Instagram post claimed that a “FDA vaccine advisory board” said unvaccinated people are more educated than most people who have gotten the COVID-19 vaccines.
Someone unaffiliated with the FDA advisory committee said something like this during the public comment period of a Sept. 17 meeting of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. The agency said it doesn’t endorse remarks by the public.
We rate this claim False.
Our Sources
Instagram post, Sept. 20, 2021,
Reuters, FDA advisers recommend COVID boosters for 65 and older, reject broad approval, Sept. 17, 2021
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, The Open Public Hearing at FDA Advisory Committee Meetings, May 2013
YouTube, Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee – 9/17/2021, Sept. 17, 2021
Email interview, Abigail Capobianco spokesperson for the FDA, Sept. 24, 2021
