FDA asks court for 55 years to release full data on Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

The FDA is asking a federal judge to give the federal agency until the year 2076 to fully release its documents tied to the approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

The Food and Drug Administration made the request as part of a filing Monday in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by a medical transparency group.

The government informed the court that it has 329,000 pages of documents that apply to the FOIA request and suggested releasing 500 pages a month, a rate it believes would allow for the redactions of exempt material. The proposed rate would mean the FDA would not fully release the records in their entirety for 55 years.

The plaintiff in the case, the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency (PHMPT), filed the suit after the FDA denied its request to expedite the release of the records.