Publicly-accessible records do not prove the existence of an alleged U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe or a ruling that “canceled” universal vaccination requirements. Social media users sharing the claim point to an article that does not provide evidence of the supposed case, and the only relevant lawsuit appears to be a case that was settled in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
An Instagram user sharing the claim in the form of a headline image, commented alongside: “EVERYONE KNOWS THE COVID VAX IS UNSFAE (sic) Just look around at all the people dropping dead, fake checkers” (here). The headline in the image is identical to that of an article dated Dec. 5 on AMG-NEWS.com, and titled, “The Supreme Court In The US Has Ruled That The Covid Pathogen Is Not A Vaccine, Is Unsafe, And Must Be Avoided At All Costs – Supreme Court Has Canceled Universal Vax” (here).
More examples of the circulating headline can be seen (here) and (here).
The article on AMG-NEWS.com, a part of American Media Group, claims that “Bill Gates, US Chief Infectious Disease Specialist Fauci, and Big Pharma have lost a lawsuit in the US Supreme Court” which was allegedly filed by “a group of scientists” led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., without providing evidence.
While the article is dated Dec. 5, 2022, it appears to have been published more than a year ago, as readers began commenting under the article as early as July 23, 2021. The earliest version Reuters could find using Wayback Machine, an internet archive tool, is dated July 30, 2022, with similar text in the article ((here).
The article cites Rumor Mill News as the source, apparently referencing its posts in 2021 viewable (here) and (here), both of which do not provide evidence for the claims.
There is also no evidence such a court case ever existed. Information about cases, both pending and decided, can be found using the Docket Search section on the Supreme Court website (here). Reuters performed a docket search for Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and did not find any relevant results for these individuals. The docket search results can be found (imgur.com/a/eIZpUql).
Kennedy has denied the existence of a Supreme Court case that canceled universal vaccination in the past. He told the AP in 2021 “the article about the Supreme Court is misinformation” and that “the same article keeps reappearing” (here).
The claim may have been inspired by a case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York between the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (here). Kennedy represented ICAN in the case regarding Freedom of Information Act requests for biennial vaccine safety reports and it was settled in 2018. The case, which never reached the Supreme Court, did not involve a decision to cancel universal vaccination or deem the vaccines as unsafe.
The posts echo a narrative previously debunked by Reuters that COVID-19 vaccines are not safe (here), (here).
Representatives for the U.S. Supreme Court, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, American Media Group and Rumor Mill News did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
VERDICT
No evidence. There is no evidence that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe and canceled “universal vaccination,” and no evidence the lawsuit described exists.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.