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Friday, August 14, 2026

MAHA and right-wing media revive debunked claim about the COVID vaccine and miscarriages to attack Dr. Fauci - Media Matters for America

A press release from two Republican senators containing texts from Dr. Anthony Fauci has revived a bogus claim — based on a flawed interpretation of a 2021 study — that the COVID-19 vaccine caused an 82% miscarriage rate among pregnant people who took it before 20 weeks of gestation. Right-wing media figures, MAHA organizations, and online wellness influencers have latched onto the debunked claim even though the authors followed up on the study later that year noting that the miscarriage rate of pregnant people who received the COVID-19 vaccine is consistent with that of the general population.

  • Republicans' anti-Fauci press release falsely claimed that a study has shown the COVID-19 vaccine caused an 82% rate of miscarriages

    • On August 10, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Rand Paul (R-KY) released January 2021 texts from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, discussing potential risks the COVID-19 vaccine could pose to pregnant people. The Washington Post reported: “In one message, according to screenshots the senators released, Fauci wrote: 'Since many people have significant cytokines storm and fever after the 2nd dose. this theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.' … In a news release, the senators pointed to several subsequent public statements from Fauci and other administration officials in which they said the benefits of pregnant women getting vaccinated appeared to...


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