Infant mortality rose for first time in 20 years, but no evidence ties it to COVID-19 vaccines

The U.S. infant mortality rate rose 3% in 2022, the first year-to-year increase in 20 years, a Nov. 1 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics shows.

The increase’s cause is unknown, but some social media users are blaming a familiar target — COVID-19 vaccines.

A Nov. 10 Instagram post stitched together screenshots of several CNN articles with headlines that showed health officials urging pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and one Nov. 1 headline that read, "US infant mortality rate rises for first time in more than 20 years."

A caption with the post read, "The dots are basically touching each other and some still can’t connect them."

The Instagram post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

We found other social media posts making the same claim.

There is no evidence connecting the infant mortality rate increase to the COVID-19 vaccines, which went to market in early 2021. Health officials say getting the COVID-19 virus can complicate pregnancy and that a growing body of studies have proved the vaccines to be safe to take during pregnancy.

The report’s data shows the provisional (not final) infant mortality rate increased from 5.44 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021 to 5.6 deaths in 2022, a 3% rise.

It was the first year-to-year rise in the rate since 2002, when the rate increased 2.94% over 2001. 

The total number of deaths among infants, babies younger than a year old, for 2022 was 20,548, also a 3% increase. Overall, the infant mortality rate has declined 22% since 2002, the report said.

Among the report’s findings were significant mortality rate increases for male infants, infants born to American Indian, Alaskan native and white women and infants born to women ages 25 to 29.

Two of the 10 leading causes of infant mortality increased significantly, maternal complications of pregnancy and bacterial sepsis of a newborn, the report said.

The report listed no cause for the mortality rate increase and did not mention COVID-19 or vaccines.

Dr. Rachel Moon, a University of Virginia School of Medicine pediatrics professor, said the claim about COVID-19 vaccines causing the rise in infant mortality is unsubstantiated.

"There has been no association of COVID-19 vaccines increasing mortality in general, and there is no biological plausibility to the claim," Moon said.

If it were true that vaccines were causing higher rates of infant mortality, Moon said, then we would see higher rates of infant mortality in areas with high vaccination rates — but that’s not what the data shows. 

The report highlighted significant increases in infant mortality rates in four states: Georgia (+13%), Iowa (+30%), Missouri (+16%) and Texas (+8%). 

Moon noted that in those four states, the percentage of residents who received the primary COVID-19 vaccine series was lower than Northeastern states with higher vaccination rates, according to CDC vaccination data. 

The vaccination rates in Georgia (57.5%), Iowa (64.5%), Missouri (59.2%) and Texas (63.5%) don’t show how many pregnant people were vaccinated, but Moon said they would likely reflect overall vaccination trends in those states.

"If vaccines were indeed the reason, I would expect the infant mortality rates to be the highest in the Northeast, which has the highest vaccination rates," Moon said.

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New York, for example, had 81% of residents vaccinated, but the infant mortality rate there rose 2%. Connecticut had 83% or residents vaccinated, but had a 9% decrease in its infant mortality rate.

The report also highlighted Nevada’s 22% decrease in its infant mortality rate. That state had 63.8% of its residents receive at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, a rate comparable to the four states highlighted in the report with significant increases in infant mortality.

Moon also said the report showed a larger increase in infant mortality rate in male infants. "I would anticipate that the rates in females and males would be the same," if vaccines were the cause, she said.

In response to the report’s findings, American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Sandy Chung released a statement saying there are many reasons the infant mortality rate in the U.S. is "shockingly high." She cited poverty and racial and ethnic disparities related to accessible health care among them.

The CDC and other health organizations recommend that pregnant women be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The CDC said people who are pregnant or were recently pregnant are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19 compared with people who aren’t pregnant. Getting the virus can increase the risk of pregnancy complications, the CDC said.

Studies of women before and during pregnancy have shown no increased risk for pregnancy complications such as miscarriage, preterm delivery, stillbirth or birth defects, the CDC said.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said on its website there’s "no evidence of adverse maternal or fetal effects" from the vaccine and a growing body of evidence proves its safety for use during pregnancy.

The National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine also recommend COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.

An Instagram post claimed that a rise in infant mortality rates in 2022 is tied to COVID-19 vaccines.

National data shows a rise in infant mortality in the U.S. for the first time in two decades, but the CDC report documenting this trend did not determine a cause. 

COVID-19 vaccination rates in four states highlighted in the report that had significant increases in infant mortality rates were much lower than vaccination rates in states with small increases or decreases in infant mortality. Studies have shown no increased risk of birth complications in people who were vaccinated while pregnant. Getting the COVID-19 virus can increase the risk of pregnancy complications, the CDC said.

We rate the claim False.