A widely shared blog post claims that they have calculated an increase in miscarriages in the UK “as a result of” expectant mothers receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. The British medicine regulator told Reuters there was no evidence to support this allegation, saying the figures used in the blog had been ripped out of context.
The headline, published on March 21, reads: “The number of women who lose their unborn child after having the vaccine against Covid increases by 366% in just six weeks.” The authors further say that they are ‘sad and shocked’ about ‘unborn and newborn children losing their lives as a result of the mothers receiving one of the Covid-19 vaccines …’ (here).
The article mentions data from weekly reports of the Medicines and Healthcare Products’ (MHRA) yellow card scheme that monitors possible side effects of vaccines (here). It is noted that six miscarriages occurred after a vaccination COVID-19 between 9 December and 24 January. This figure increases between January 28 and March 7 to 28. That is 22 miscarriages added to the total, or an increase of 366.6%, according to the authors.
“Only six weeks separate the first and seventh reports, and the shocking increase in the number of women losing their unborn and newborn child at that time due to the vaccination against Pfizer or AstraZeneca Covid is appalling,” the blog adds.
The post has since been repeatedly shared on social media (here, here, here and here) with users commenting such as: “Foolish women … heartbreaking” (here) and: “Every single one of those women should be charged with murder !! ”(Here), indicating that they believe COVID-19 vaccines play a role in miscarriages.
However, these figures were taken out of context as the overall increase in the number of vaccines administered was not mentioned. According to experts interviewed by Reuters, this should then be compared with the expected frequency of miscarriages occurring in the UK.
Putting the figures into context, the MHRA told Reuters: ‘There is no pattern indicating an increased risk of miscarriage associated with exposure to the COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy. The number of people receiving a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine increased from 1,340,043 to 4,322,791 for the same period. It is expected that at least half will be women, and the number of women of childbearing age (taking the vaccine) is estimated to have increased from 665,424 to 2,146,866 over the same period. ”
“Unfortunately, miscarriage occurs in about 1 in 4 pregnancies (equivalent to 25 in 100) in the UK (outside the pandemic), and most occur in the first 12 weeks (first trimester) of pregnancy, so some miscarriages would be expected to occur merely by chance. ”
The MHRA added that it closely monitored a small number of miscarriage reports after exposure to vaccine in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, but said there was ‘no pattern’ suggesting an increased risk. Published in February by the Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists and the British Fertility Association, it says there is “absolutely no evidence” that COVID-19 vaccines affect female or male fertility, and is opposed to “blatant misinformation” distributed online (here).
Meanwhile, the blog post said a stillbirth also occurred after the expectant mother received the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, adding: “It’s shocking that it is not fatal.” The MHRA disputes this claim.
It told Reuters that some incidents could be reported incorrectly and confirmed that no actual stillbirths have been reported to the agency to date. The MHRA then contextualised one report of a baby born prematurely after the mother received a Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, saying premature births occur in about eight out of every 100 births in the UK. Thus, some will be expected to occur “simply by chance” after vaccination.
Finally, the blog questions the change in government advice by not recommending a COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant women, saying that the jab should only be considered if the benefits outweigh the risks.
In response, the MHRA said: “Our initial advice for the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was to exclude pregnancy before vaccination in women of childbearing potential and to avoid it at least 2 months after the second dose of vaccination. Following new data from preclinical studies, this advice is no longer applicable. These data did not identify any evidence of use of the vaccine during pregnancy. ”
The agency made it clear that, although current advice does not regularly recommend COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women due to limited data, the available information does not pose safety concerns. This means that individuals at high risk for COVID-19 can discuss consequences of being vaccinated with a physician.
Details of the approval of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines can be found on the Government’s website here and here.
VERDICT
Missing context. There is no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines increase the risk of miscarriage. The data cited in the blog post missed an important context regarding the total number of vaccinations administered in the time frame, along with the number of miscarriages that are expected to occur among the population.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.