Miscarriages not linked to COVID-19 vaccination: Report

Vaccine hesitancy
has emerged as one of the biggest challenges in beating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Misinformation on social media networks about side-effects of taking the
COVID-19 vaccine have had a real-world impact.

Recently, social
media went abuzz with posts warning of miscarriages following COVID-19 shots,
citing data from a US government reporting system, reports AFP which conducted
a fact-check on said reports.

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The fact-check
found that the reports are not proof that vaccines were the problem in the
cited miscarriages.

According to the
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is no current
evidence to show an increase in miscarriages following COVID-19 immunization.

Miscarriage ‘is
a relatively common experience’ and occurs in about 10–20% known pregnancies when
the foetus is not developing normally, according to the Mayo Clinic.

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It is true that
reports of miscarriage following COVID-19 immunisation have indeed been
submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a description
of the programmes’ database says it “contains information on
unverified reports of adverse events (illnesses, health problems and/or
symptoms) following immunization with US-licensed vaccines.”

The VAERS website also says
that these “reports alone cannot be used to determine if a vaccine caused or
contributed to an adverse event or illness.”

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The
CDC, which runs the VAERS program along with the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), said: “To date, no evidence has indicated an increase in miscarriages
after Covid-19 vaccines, and no concerning patterns of reporting have been
observed,” reported AFP Fact Check. 

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The
CDC website cautions that there is limited data about the safety of COVID-19
vaccines for pregnant woman because its impact on them has not been studies.
But based on how mRNA vaccines work, experts believe that they are unlikely to
pose a specific risk for people who are pregnant, says the page on the CDC
website.