And the effort to blame mRNA skeptics for the CDC shooting begins

An NBC News reporter just popped up with questions for me. His email and my answers are below, in full and unedited. Judge for yourself.

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(I don’t spread misinformation. I spread information. Now and always. With your help.)

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On Tue, Aug 12, 2025 at 4:24 PM Ingram, David (NBCUniversal) <xxxxx> wrote:

Hi –

I’m a reporter with NBC News reaching out for comment from Alex Berenson for an article we’re working on.

The article is about the CDC shooting Friday, the gunman’s apparent belief that the Covid vaccine caused his depression, and the misinformation online about vaccine side effects.

Is this a subject that Alex is interested in commenting on? Does he have a view on whether vaccines cause depression?

I’m asking because I saw this post from Alex that got 7 million views back in February on the topic of vaccine side effects: https://x.com/AlexBerenson/status/1892194302790336655

FWIW, the author the Yale study, Akiko Iwasaki, was relatively cautious in describing her findings, telling The New York Times that the study was “still a work in progress” based on a sample of 42 people. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/health/covid-post-vaccination-syndrome.html

Also, does he have any thoughts on the CDC director’s comments today about misinformation? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-12/cdc-director-s-vow-to-rebuild-trust-meets-skepticism-after-attack

Thank you.

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(Only 7.1 million views? Shoulda been more…)

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My response:

David –

Thanks for your note.

I don’t know of any evidence that “vaccines cause depression,” though I don’t hold myself as an expert on the standard childhood vaccine schedule and generally do not write about it, despite the fact that my readers have asked me to do so.

My reporting since 2021 has focused on the Covid mRNA vaccines and their known and potential side effects; their known side effects include myocarditis, pericarditis, other cardiac injury, and sudden cardiac death (very rare, but documented, I can send you the studies); they also can cause a variety of autoimmune conditions, including Type 1 diabetes and autoimmune hepatitis, as documented in case reports. I do not have a view on whether they can cause depression, but the mRNAs are highly inflammatory, and inflammation and autoinflammation are increasingly connected to brain and psychiatric disorders, so there is at the least a potential mechanism of action.

Under President Biden, American public health authorities largely refused to investigate mRNA vaccine side effects, with the exception of myocarditis and pericarditis in young adults. President Trump’s team is far more willing to consider case reports and other evidence. I laud them for doing so.

Akiko Iwasaki’s findings are just one of many datapoints suggesting the mRNAs are much less safe than their advocates and pharmaceutical companies suggested. The fact that they are far less effective than originally promised is undisputed. I stand by my tweet from February; the fact that the mRNA shots cause some people to produce Covid spike protein for years is unexpected and highly concerning.

Blaming mRNA skeptics for Patrick Joseph White’s violence is as foolish as blaming critics of the N.F.L. for Shane Devon Tamura’s shooting in Manhattan two weeks ago.

All best

Alex

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We will see how far the media pushes this line of attack.