Fox News Anchor Deletes Tweet Suggesting Colin Powell’s Death “Raises New Concerns” About Covid Vaccine Efficacy

Fox News anchor John Roberts has deleted a tweet suggesting that former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s death “raises new concerns” about the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.

In the now-deleted tweet, Roberts said “the fact that Colin Powell died from a breakthrough COVID infection raises new concerns about how effective vaccines are long-term.” 

Roberts deleted the tweet amid backlash and later issued follow-ups claiming that he’d deleted it because “many people interpreted it as anti-vax.”

He called Powell’s death “a loss for our community and our country,” noting that he and Powell lived in the same town and would run into each other “at the local sandwich shop.”

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Powell’s death is the most high-profile Covid-19 breakthrough case that we know of. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that breakthrough cases are rare and that deaths from breakthrough infections are even rarer. There have only been roughly 7,000 breakthrough cases resulting in death among 187 million vaccinated Americans.

Alan Herrera

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.