Judicial Watch Sues HHS for Biodistribution Studies for the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson Vaccines

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the government watchdog group, announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for biodistribution studies and related data for the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:21-cv-02418)).

This lawsuit was filed after the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease failed to respond to a June 7, 2021, FOIA request for:

[A]ccess to biodistribution studies and related data for the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines used to treat and/or prevent SARS-CoV-2 and/or COVID-19.

Similarly, HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) failed to respond to the same request sent on July 15, 2021, after the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease advised Judicial Watch that BARDA “would be the appropriate federal agency to submit a request,” to obtain the records if they existed. 

Biodistribution is a method of tracking where compounds of interest travel in an experimental animal or human subject.

“The Biden administration should follow the law and release any biodistribution studies concerning the vaccines,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Americans have a right to know as much as possible about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.” 

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