The truth about the Covid vaccine and miscarriage risk… after Fauci texts reignite debate over the shot’s safety

In public, Dr Anthony Fauci told everyone there were ‘no red flags’ suggesting that Covid vaccines were a risk for pregnant women.

Behind closed doors, however, a newly-released batch of messages has revealed he may have privately doubted this assessment. 

The release of the texts sparked a firestorm about what Fauci knew and how much he relayed to the public and re-ignited a major debate over the safety of Covid vaccines for pregnant women and prompted scores of people to come forward saying they suffered a miscarriage after receiving them.

Leading the voices were TV personality Meghan McCain, who said she suffered a miscarriage during Covid and billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who said his wife Neri Oxman had lost seven pregnancies during the pandemic. However, neither one specified whether the miscarriages happened after a Covid vaccination.

Online, other women were also quick to share their stories. 

‘I miscarried at 12 weeks just five days after a [Covid] booster,’ one wrote, while a second added, ‘my daughter, who was forced to get the vaccine because of her job, lost her second baby at 15 weeks. Words fail me right now.’

The alleged increased risk of miscarriage following the Covid vaccination stems from a 2021 study, which was later revealed to have a flawed design and been misinterpreted. 

Critics argued that among women who were vaccinated during the first trimester, the available data implied an approximately 82 percent miscarriage rate. 

However, the authors later acknowledged a problem with the way the original paper presented the miscarriage calculation and in 2021, the CDC said the 82 percent calculation was ‘not an appropriate calculation based on the data available’. That was because, in the paper it was based on, more than 1,000 pregnancies were still ongoing and their outcomes weren’t yet known.

Additionally, the authors of the study in their published response acknowledged that their original 82 percent denominator wasn’t appropriate for calculating a risk estimate, but also explained that follow-up was missing for most women vaccinated early in pregnancy. 

In other words, the data necessary to calculate the early-pregnancy miscarriage rate simply weren’t available yet. 

Now, further research and separate studies have found the Covid vaccine is safe for pregnant women and there is no evidence that vaccines cause or increase the risk of miscarriages.

How common are miscarriages?

Current estimates suggest about 10 to 20 percent of all pregnancies in the US end in a miscarriage, the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks, according to the Mayo Clinic, although experts say the number is likely higher because many miscarriages go unreported. 

Most miscarriages, 80 percent, occur before 12 weeks of gestation. 

A miscarriage can occur for a number of reasons, though in a majority of cases, a true cause is never known.

Doctors have linked it to issues with the developing baby and hormones. Being over 35 years old and having diabetes, obesity, a uterine condition or being a smoker all raise the risk.

Because miscarriages are not uncommon, experts say it is possible many cases people link to the vaccines or the virus may have happened anyway and the vaccine is blamed because someone received it not long before the miscarriage 

Does getting a Covid vaccine raise your risk of a miscarriage? 

Scientists have studied this question in depth to determine whether the Covid vaccine is safe for pregnant women. 

A major 2021 study from Minnesota looked at the medical records of 105,000 pregnant women in the US who were between six and 19 weeks of gestation.

Overall, out of the 13,000 women who had a miscarriage, 8.6 percent said they had been vaccinated 28 days earlier. For comparison, among the 96,000 who had a healthy pregnancy, eight percent had been vaccinated against Covid.

Another study, also from 2021, by Norwegian scientists, analyzed data on nearly 18,000 pregnant women from before 14 weeks gestation. 

Of its 4,500 participants who suffered a miscarriage, 5.1 percent had been vaccinated against Covid before week 14, they found. For comparison, among the 14,000 who had healthy pregnancies, it found 5.5 percent had been vaccinated against the virus.

Researchers said the similar numbers suggested that there was no increased risk of a miscarriage from receiving the Covid vaccine. If there was, they would expect miscarriages to be much more common among women who were vaccinated.

Dr Sujatha Reddy, an OB-GYN in Georgia, said: ‘I have not seen any data to support suggestions that the Covid vaccine raises the risk of a miscarriage.

‘OB-GYNs still recommend pregnant women receive the Covid vaccine. The benefits outweigh the risks.’

She added: ‘Women who are concerned about this shot should speak to their healthcare provider.’

On its website, the CDC says more than a million pregnant women have now received a Covid vaccine, and that its monitoring system also shows no higher risk of miscarriage among those who got the inoculation.

Scientists have not found a difference in risk depending on the trimester. 

Doctors were particularly concerned that the vaccine could raise the risk of miscarriage in the first trimester, but this was not supported by studies.

Are there other risks from taking the Covid vaccine?  

The CDC says research has shown pregnant women who received the Covid vaccine had no higher risk of miscarriage or preterm delivery compared to those who did not.

For the developing fetus, the agency also said there was no higher risk of a low birth weight or birth defects if the mother had been inoculated.

Among studies into this was a paper on 40,000 pregnant women, published in 2022, which found no link between Covid shots and preterm birth or smaller-than-average birth weights.

The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM), which represents experts handling high-risk pregnancies, has said online that it ‘strongly reaffirms’ its recommendation that pregnant patients receive the Covid vaccine. 

‘Maternal immunization is one of the most effective ways we can protect both pregnant patients and babies during some of the most vulnerable stages of life,’ said Dr Margot Savoy, the chief medical officer for the American Academy of Family Physicians.  

What about the benefits? 

Virtually everyone now has a level of immunity to Covid because the vast majority of people have now been infected by the virus at least once.

Some doctors say, however, that the vaccine still has some benefits. 

Experts at the SMFM say pregnant women infected with Covid are three times more likely to be hospitalized than non-pregnant individuals. They are also up to three times more likely to need advanced life support and a breathing tube. 

Hospitalizations due to a Covid infection are currently uncommon. Nationwide, currently about 0.2 people per 100,000 individuals are hospitalized due to a Covid infection, the lowest rate on record. 

Pregnant women are at slightly higher risk from the virus because they have a weaker immune system.

Experts say that being vaccinated against Covid can also protect babies, because it may mean that antibodies against the virus are passed to the fetus. Babies have a slightly higher risk of a serious illness from Covid.

SMFM also said that a Covid infection raises the risk of preterm birth and stillbirth. 

These outcomes remain rare, however. A 2023 study by Norwegian scientists that analyzed 390,000 births and 1,000 stillbirths found those who were infected with Covid were more likely to suffer from a stillbirth.

What are the current Covid vaccine recommendations for pregnant women?

Currently, recommendations differ depending on the organization.

At present, the CDC does not recommend Covid vaccinations for pregnant women – which would be administered as booster shots.

The agency had recommended them for pregnant women since August 2021, and did not block them being received by expectant mothers when they were first rolled out in December 2020. 

Its guidance was reversed in September 2025 after Robert F Kennedy-appointed vaccine advisers overhauled the vaccine schedule. In March this year, a federal judge blocked many changes made to the US vaccine schedule, including that for children, after finding they were ‘arbitrary and capricious’.

But the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG), which represents doctors for pregnant women, alongside 13 other medical bodies, still urges expectant mothers to get the dose. 

The CDC’s latest guide tells pregnant women to get two vaccines: the shot against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, known as Tdap, and a shot against RSV.

Releasing its own inoculation schedule in June, ACOG told pregnant women to get four shots: Tdap and RSV jabs, and Covid and flu vaccinations.

For the Covid vaccine, it said this could be administered at any age and at any point during pregnancy. 

ACOG president Camille Clare said: ‘Changing national recommendations coupled with rampant vaccine misinformation are resulting in confusion for both patients and healthcare professionals.

‘It is incredibly important for the public to have access to reliable, evidence-based information on maternal immunizations from a trusted source. ACOG is proud to be that source.’ 

In other countries, such as the UK, the Covid vaccine is no longer routinely recommended for pregnant women, except for those at high risk. 

If I had the Covid vaccine, will that affect my chance of getting pregnant later? 

Scientists say there is no evidence that the Covid vaccine will affect fertility further down the line.

Covid primarily affects the respiratory system. There is no evidence that it impacts the reproductive organs directly.

The SMFM says online: ‘There is no evidence that vaccines affect future fertility.’