"I knew these vaccines were not going to protect against infection. And I think we overplayed the vaccines. And it made people then worry that it’s not going to protect against severe disease and hospitalization," Deborah Birx, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator under former President Donald Trump, said during an appearance on Fox News.The Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines were granted emergency use authorization in late 2020 to prevent symptomatic COVID-19, and were promoted by many health officials, including Birx.
"This is one of the most highly-effective vaccines we have in our infectious disease arsenal. And so that’s why I’m very enthusiastic about the vaccine," Birx said on an ABC podcast at the time.
She made no mention of concerns the vaccines might not protect against infection.