By: Nikolaj Kristensen
July 12 2023
The WHO did not admit fully vaccinated mothers are giving birth to babies with heart defects
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
A WHO report linked heart inflammation in neonates to enterovirus infection, not mothers’ vaccination status.
Claim ID e177f87f
Context
According to an article published on July 4, 2023, by The People’s Voice, the World Health Organization (WHO) has admitted that fully vaccinated mothers are giving birth to babies with heart defects. The People’s Voice, formerly known as YourNewsWire, is a known misinformation site with a history of sharing false and misleading information.
The article refers to a WHO news report of a rise in cases of myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – among babies and infants in the U.K.
However, the WHO has not made any statement that links mothers’ COVID-19 vaccination status to babies’ heart defects. COVID-19 vaccinations in pregnancy have been proven to be safe and effective, with no increase in the risk of any kind of birth defects.
In Fact
On May 16, 2023, the WHO published a news report about an increase in severe myocarditis in newborns and infants associated with enterovirus infection in Wales. Ten babies were diagnosed with myocarditis and tested positive for enterovirus between June 2022 and April, the report said.
The report clearly states that the cases were associated with enterovirus infection and does not mention COVID-19 vaccines. The only mention of vaccination in the report is in pointing out that there is no vaccine for the enterovirus causing myocarditis.
There is no basis for the inference made by the People’s Voice article, a spokesperson from the WHO told Logically Facts. “The WHO has not at any time, in this report or in any other report, associated the increase of myocarditis in neonates in the U.K. with the COVID vaccination status of the mother, or any vaccination at all,” said the spokesperson.
About 37 percent of cases of severe neonatal enterovirus infection will cause myocarditis, as was the case for the babies mentioned in the report, explains Victoria Male, a senior lecturer in reproductive immunology at Imperial College London, to Logically Facts.
Numerous studies have looked at whether COVID vaccination in pregnancy increases the risk of any kind of birth defect, says Male. “All of them find it does not.”
The Verdict
The People’s Voice article misinterprets a WHO report of a rise in cases of myocarditis among newborns in Wales. The report links these cases to enterovirus infection, not vaccination. The WHO has not associated the increase of myocarditis in newborns in the U.K. with the COVID vaccination status of the mother or any vaccination at all. Numerous studies have looked at whether COVID vaccination in pregnancy increases the risk of any kind of birth defect, all of them finding it does not. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.
The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19, including symptoms, prevention, and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organization or your national healthcare authority.