No proof of miscarriage spike linked to vaccine
“There is no pattern to suggest an elevated risk of miscarriage.” U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
While vaccines are generally considered safe for pregnant women and new mothers, this group’s exclusion from COVID-19 vaccine trials has left health professionals with no clear data to guide their patients.
But a new study released by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in late March found that the vaccines based on messenger RNA, or mRNA, conferred good protection against the virus to pregnant and lactating women, and probably their newborns.
The encouraging results come on the heels of social media buzz claiming that, instead of protection, the COVID-19 vaccines are causing pregnant women to miscarry. “Miscarriages skyrocket 350% in six weeks due to k*vid vacsines (sic),” writes one Facebook user in a March 29 post.
“Hmm... & y’all said it was safe. y’all said it was just ‘conspiracy theories’ when talking about the effect it would have on women’s fertility,” writes another user in a March 30 post that includes a screenshot of a headline from Natural News, a known conspiracy theory site, asserting the same claim as the March 29 post but with a figure of “366%.”
It is not the first time claims of miscarriages after COVID-19 vaccination have circulated on social media. Earlier this year, several viral posts on Facebook and Instagram claimed a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based physician’s miscarriage was linked to the vaccine despite the fact it actually occurred weeks before her first vaccination, Business Insider reported.
Claims that the COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility in women have been debunked by USA TODAY.
So where does this 350% or 366% figure cited in the Facebook posts come from?
The source appears to be London-based alternative news site The Daily Expose, which, according to its website, markets its mission as “to report the facts that the mainstream refuse to.”
In late March, The Daily Expose claimed that data from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s Yellow Card Scheme (the British equivalent to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) showed an increase in miscarriages over a six-week period.
“Using data inputted to the MHRA Yellow Card Scheme (from Dec. 9, 2020) up to 24th January 2021 a total of 4 women had suffered a miscarriage as a result of having the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine,” that article claims, including two more after vaccination with AstraZeneca’s
vaccine.
After Jan. 24 to March 7, the total count goes up to 28 miscarriages for both vaccines which, accordingly, is a 366% increase.
“There is no pattern to suggest an elevated risk of miscarriage related to exposure to the COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy,” the MHRA said in a statement to Reuters. The agency explained that the number of women vaccinated between December to March had to be considered alongside the expected frequency of miscarriage in a population.
“The numbers of people who have received a 1st dose COVID-19 vaccination increased from 1,340,043 to 4,322,791 for the same time frame. At least half of these would be expected to be women, so the number of women of child-bearing age (taking the vaccine) is estimated to have increased from 665,424 to 2,146,866 for the same time frame,” the MHRA said.
It is estimated that as many as 26% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, with nearly 80% of early miscarriages occurring in the first 12 weeks, or first trimester, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Given this, the MHRA acknowledged “some miscarriages would be expected to occur following vaccination purely by chance.”
Our rating: Missing context
Claims of miscarriages increasing by 366% over a six-week period originate from a U.K.-based alternative media site, The Daily Expose, citing data from the U.K.’sMedicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. While the total counts of miscarriages are accurate, the Daily Expose article fails to take into account the increased number of women being vaccinated over the six-week time period alongside the expected frequency of miscarriages in the general population. The MHRA has said there is no causeand-effect association between COVID-19 vaccinations and the incidence of miscarriage.