Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican Congresswoman, has once again expressed her opposition to vaccinations by sharing a tweet that implies a link between vaccines and fetal death. The tweet in question was from a user who shared a video from The Highwire, a media outlet run by an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, in which a woman who claims to be a nurse says that there has been an increase in fetal death since the vaccine was rolled out and many of these cases are in women who have recently received the vaccine.
The user who shared the tweet also claims to have personal knowledge of the matter, stating that one of her best friends is a nurse and has seen an alarming increase in infants on blood thinning therapy and an increase in fetal death. But the user also stated that the census at their local level 1 trauma center is decreasing, not increasing.
Since the emergence of COVID-19, the internet has been filled with various theories and concerns regarding the potential risks associated with treatments, particularly vaccines. Despite overwhelming evidence supporting the safety of COVID vaccines, there are still individuals who refuse to believe in their safety, and the anti-vaccine movement can be traced back to a 1998 study by Andrew Wakefield that falsely claimed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism in children.
COVID Vaccine and Fetal Demise Linkage
Despite being discredited and withdrawn from the journal and Wakefield being found guilty of misconduct, the belief that vaccines are dangerous and harmful, particularly to children, persists. According to Saifuddin Ahmed, an assistant professor of communication and information and an expert in media and its impact on public opinion in the science and technology sphere at Nanyang Technological University, no scientific study confirms the association between fetal demise and COVID vaccines. He further states that, on the other hand, there are studies that indicate the negative impact of COVID-19 on pregnant and unvaccinated women, as reported by Newsweek.
Fetal demise is the spontaneous death of a fetus at any point during pregnancy, later referred to as stillbirth. Last year, a study conducted by the British Medical Journal looked for any association between fetal development and COVID-19 vaccination and found no higher risk of preterm birth, small for gestational age at birth, or stillbirth among vaccinated pregnant women. Another study published in Frontiers in Psychology found no strong link between unknown adverse events following immunization (AEFI) and COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant women.
As there is no scientific evidence to support the claims that COVID-19 vaccines cause fetal death, it appears to be a scaremongering tactic without any proof. Pregnant women are at risk of experiencing negative impacts from the COVID-19 virus, and the vaccine, which lessens the severity of the virus, may mitigate these negative effects.
Increase Maternal Death due to COVID
Johnathan Reiner, a professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, replied to Marjorie Taylor Greene's tweet and stated that there is no data to suggest that there is an increase in fetal death after COVID vaccination, but ample data is showing an increase in maternal death caused by COVID infection. Ahmed also echoed this sentiment by saying that there is no scientific evidence to support the life-threatening adverse outcomes often propagated by some politicians and anti-vaxxers, and such claims can be highly dangerous for public health.
Promoting anti-vaccine sentiments can have negative impacts on children. Ahmed stated that the anti-vax movement is particularly harmful to children as they cannot decide on their own to be vaccinated. Parents and guardians are responsible for making these decisions for them, and any misinformation or rumors can influence these decision-makers and ultimately harm the children and future generations.
Vaccines are crucial for protecting children from preventable illnesses and creating herd immunity, making it harder for vulnerable individuals to be exposed to the disease. Ahmed emphasized that parents should make informed decisions based on scientific evidence and government regulations rather than misinformation. He also stressed that politicians and public representatives are responsible for not spreading fabricated and non-scientific anti-vaccine claims.
RELATED ARTICLE: Severe COVID-19 During Pregnancy: New Study Warns About Potential Adverse Effects on Childbirth
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