In public statements, Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly reassured Americans that there were “no red flags” indicating COVID vaccines posed a danger to pregnant women.
Privately, however, a newly released collection of messages has raised questions about whether he was less certain about that assessment behind the scenes.
The disclosure has triggered fresh scrutiny over what Fauci knew, what he shared with the public, and how health officials communicated the risks of COVID vaccination during pregnancy. It has also reignited a broader debate over vaccine safety for expectant mothers, with many people coming forward online to say they experienced miscarriages after receiving the shots.
Among the most prominent voices were television personality Meghan McCain, who said she suffered a miscarriage during the pandemic, and billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who said his wife, Neri Oxman, had lost seven pregnancies. Neither McCain nor Ackman specified whether those pregnancy losses occurred after COVID vaccination.
Across social media, other women quickly began sharing personal accounts of pregnancy loss.
“I miscarried at 12 weeks just five days after a [COVID] booster,” one person wrote. Another 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.”
Concerns about a possible increased risk of miscarriage after COVID vaccination have often been traced to a 2021 study that was later found to have design limitations and was widely misinterpreted.
Critics claimed that, among women vaccinated during the first trimester, the available data suggested a miscarriage rate of roughly 82 percent.
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.
Dr Anthony Fauci, pictured last month, has been revealed to have had reservations about suggestions that COVID vaccines were safe for pregnant women
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.
Among those sharing their stories was Meghan McCain who has called for the former chief medical advisor to face prosecution
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.
Billionaire Bill Ackman (right) also revealed that his wife Neri Oxman (left) lost seven pregnancies during the pandemic
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.
Pregnant women are at a slightly higher risk from the virus because they have a weaker immune system. It’s for this reason that in the US they are also recommended the flu vaccine.
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 the shots for pregnant women since August 2021 and expectant mothers could also get them during the December roll out.
One of the texts released by the GOP duo reveals that Fauci was concerned in January 2021 that the second dose of the COVID shot ‘theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester of pregnancy
Its guidance was reversed in September 2025 after Robert F Kennedy-appointed vaccine advisers overhauled the vaccine schedule for pregnant women. In March this year, a federal judge blocked many of the changes recommended by the new advisers, including those for children’s vaccines, after raising concerns over the qualifications of people on the committee.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which represents doctors for pregnant women, alongside 13 other medical bodies, still urges expectant mothers to get the dose.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends the COVID vaccine for pregnant women.
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 in June, announcing the recommendations: ‘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.
Where did the 82% figure come from?
It has been claimed that 82 percent of women vaccinated against COVID early in pregnancy suffered a miscarriage. The figure is inaccurate and a miscalculation.
In 2021, CDC scientists contacted nearly 4,000 pregnant women who had received the COVID vaccine up to three months earlier and asked how their pregnancy had progressed.
Overall, they found 712 had given birth to healthy babies, while 104 had miscarriages and one had a stillbirth. The rest, the vast majority, were still pregnant. Overall, this gave a miscarriage rate of 12.6 percent, within the normal range.
Critics reviewing the paper, however, said it only covered women in the third trimester and argued they should be removed from the data.
Women in the first trimester are much more likely to have a miscarriage. But over the three months the study covered, it was not possible for them to have a completed healthy pregnancy – which takes nine to 10 months.
In an open letter published in 2022, critics removed women in the third trimester from the data, leaving them with 127 completed pregnancies and 104 miscarriages, which gave a miscarriage rate of 82 percent.
Their calculation excluded the more than 3,000 pregnant women vaccinated against COVID in the first and second trimester and whose pregnancy was still ongoing.
The open letter containing the figure has been widely criticized. The CDC said it was ‘not an appropriate calculation based on the data available.’
Dr Viki Male, an immunologist working on pregnancy at Imperial College London, said on X: ‘The quoted 82 percent is not the miscarriage rate. It just tells us that we can’t go from the first trimester to giving birth to a healthy baby in three months.
‘Which, I think we all knew, right?’
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.’
