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Large French Study Finds No Increase in Birth Defects After First-Trimester mRNA COVID Vaccination

Researchers urge health leaders to update pregnancy guidance to reflect the evidence.

Overview

  • A JAMA Network Open analysis of roughly 500,000 live-born infants found 176.6 major congenital malformations per 10,000 after first-trimester mRNA exposure versus 179.4 per 10,000 unexposed, a nonsignificant difference.
  • No safety signal appeared by organ system, and stillbirth rates were identical at 0.4% in vaccinated and unvaccinated pregnancies.
  • The cohort used France’s Mother-Child EPI-MERES register for pregnancies beginning April 2021 to January 2022, focusing on Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
  • Exposure was defined as vaccination from conception through day 91 of pregnancy, with non-mRNA products excluded and known teratogenic exposures removed.
  • Authors note limits including the inclusion of live births only, and the findings arrive as the U.S. government has pulled back previous pregnancy vaccine recommendations.