A study involving pregnant women getting the COVID vaccine published at the New England Journal of Medicine has been revised earlier this month, causing speculation on how factual the actual results of the study were. The journal published a correction, leading others to conclude that the COVID vaccines remain unsafe for pregnant women.
According to The Gateway Pundit, the preliminary findings at the time of the publication of the original article showed that there was 104 spontaneous abortions and one stillbirth among participants who were vaccinated before 20 weeks of gestation. However, no proportion could be determined for the risk of spontaneous abortion among women in the study because follow-up information was not yet available for most of the participants.
The study, as pointed out by COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF) founder Steve Kirsch, also said that 712 pregnancies resulted in a live birth among participants who were vaccinated against COVID in their third trimester. It added, "Among live-born infants, the incidences of preterm birth (9.4%), small size for gestational age (3.2%), and congenital anomalies (2.2%) were consistent with those expected on the basis of published literature. There were no neonatal deaths."
Researchers also noted that they "acknowledge the limitations in their ability to draw conclusions about spontaneous abortions, congenital anomalies, and other potential rare neonatal outcomes."
The mainstream media was quick to reassure however that COVID vaccines were "safe" for pregnant women. The Associated Press reported that "A September 8 correction in a prominent medical journal did not question the safety of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy, as vaccine critics have claimed on social media."
The report said that "these claims misrepresent the journal's correction, which reflected updates to CDC data that appeared in NEJM." The CDC, whose data was also used in the study, also rushed to the defense of the researchers, saying that the risk for miscarriage among those who got vaccinated against COVID earlier in their pregnancies was between 14% to 19%, which the research authors insisted was "within the expected risk range' for pregnant people generally."
On Thursday, the CDC once again insisted that COVID vaccinations do not increase the risk of miscarriage of birth defects, despite the published report that showed some evidence of it. According to CNBC, CDC medical officer Dr. Christine Olson claims to have "reviewed the currently available registry data" and reported that they "found no evidence of an increase in spontaneous abortion rates, and no evidence of any disproportionate negative infant birth outcomes."
Dr. Olsen added that based on a CDC study on COVID vaccine-related miscarriages, which the agency conducted from December 14, 2020 through July 19, 2021, the findings among 2,456 participants who got the Pfizer or Moderna shot while pregnant showed a 12.8% risk of miscarriage by the 20th week of gestation, which they insist is "the normal risk of miscarriage."
However, the study also showed some dangers: among more than 1,600 babies evaluated in the CDC study, up to 99 were actually preterm, while 45 were considered small for gestational age. Up to 158 required intensive care and 45 babies had birth defects, but Dr. Olson insisted that there were "no uncommon types or clusters of birth defects." Dr. Elyse Kharbanda, a researcher with the HealthPartners Institute who presented the findings before the CDC committee, said that there was no relation between COVID vaccines and stillbirths.
